South Africa have won their first World Test Championship title, defeating Australia by five wickets at Lord’s, London , finally ending their long wait for an ICC trophy. They now begin their title defence campaign against Pakistan.
South Africa will tour Pakistan for a two-match Test series starting on October 12 in Lahore. Aiden Markram will lead the team in the absence of Temba Bavuma, who is sidelined with a calf strain.
Pakistan have announced a 16-member squad led by Shan Masood, as they also begin their World Test Championship 2025–27 campaign. Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had named an 18-member squad but later trimmed it to 16, leaving out left-arm spinner Faisal Akram and all-rounder Aamer Jamal.
The South African cricket team are gearing up to start their new WTC cycle on Sunday (October 12) and have already begun preparations with specialized training sessions at Pretoria’s High-Performance Center, focusing particularly on spin-friendly wickets.
“I suppose you create a bit of a target on your back if you’ve won the WTC, and if that’s the case, it’s fair. We want to chase a place in the final again and lift that trophy once more, but we realize each team will be coming for us,” said Markram.
“We, as a team, have to keep improving and playing well in all different types of conditions. It starts for us in Pakistan, and it’s a challenge the boys will be up for,” he added during a press conference on Monday.
“There were a couple of nets prepared where the spin was really exaggerated, and you’d rather err on that side it might make things a bit easier when we get to Pakistan,” Markram explained.
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Schedule
- 1st Test: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – October 12 to 16
- 2nd Test: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium – October 20 to 24
The red-ball series will be followed by three T20Is and three ODIs, scheduled from October 28 to November 8 across Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. The squad for the white-ball series will be announced later. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who were not included in the recently concluded Asia Cup, have both returned to the Test squad.
Pakistan Test Squad
Shan Masood (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wk), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
- The South Africa Test squad will be announced soon.
Head to Head in Test
- Total Matches Played: 30
- Won by Pakistan: 6
- Won by South Africa: 17
- Drawn: 7
- Tied: 0
Written by:- Manjunath S
