Pakistan leave out Shaheen for third Australia Test

Pakistan have announced their playing XI for the New Years' Test against Australia, with two major names - fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and opener Imam-ul-Haq - missing from the list.

The third Test, which begins on Wednesday, will see the debut of 21-year-old opener Saim Ayub while 30-year-old off-spinner Sajid Khan will replace Afridi.

Saim, who made his T20I debut in March last year, comes in the team on back of impressive List A performances for Karachi.

In the eight T20Is he has played so far, he has scored 123 runs at an average of 17.57.

Sajid Khan returns to the Test side after a gap of nearly two years, having last played against Australia in March 2022 when they toured Pakistan. Sajid has a decent record in Tests with 22 wickets in seven games.

Earlier today, Australia announced their playing XI for the game as well going with an unchanged side from the last Test. It will also be David Warner's final Test match in Australian colours.

The third Test will be played in Sydney from 3 to 7 January. Australia have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and are currently No.3 on the ICC World Test Championship table.

Pakistan Playing XI for third Test: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Sajid Khan, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal.