pakistan challenges South Africa The first of a two-match Test series. This article provides details about the first match of the series, South Africa’s Playing XI vs Pakistan.
South Africa XI vs Pakistan – 1st Test, South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025
Opener: Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton
South Africa will open the 4th World Test Championship with a two-match Test series against Pakistan.
The visiting team will be without their usual captain, Themba Bavuma, and Aiden Markram will be in charge.
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Africa has named a relatively young team without much experience in Test matches in Pakistan.
Having said that, the team will put up a strong show with the bat, ball and field as they are confident of a win against Australia in the World Test Championship final and have the resources to do so.
The Proteas will open the batting line-up with Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton and will be hoping that they will perform well and provide a solid foundation for the middle-order batsmen to utilize.
Aiden Markram, South Africa’s captain for this series, will have to take responsibility and bat for long as the team’s captain and senior batsman.
Markram will be looking for plenty of support from opening partner Ryan Rickelton, but he will also be hoping to pitch well as a batsman in the series opener.
Middle-order hitters and all-rounders: Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Kyle Veraine (WC), Wyan Mulder
The first pair will be followed by the middle order, which is a bit young in terms of experience in the longest format of the game, especially when it comes to batsmen who may bat at No. 3, 4 or 5.
Players like Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis are still finding their feet at Test level and will want to get a big score in the first match to put some pressure on them.
Due to the lack of experience, batsmen like David Bedingham and Marco Jansen will play a key role in the South African batting line-up if the team wants to score more than 350 runs in total.
One of the biggest strengths the Proteas have heading into the Test series against Pakistan is that they have a deep batting line-up that stretches all the way up to No. 11, with capable players like Senuran Muthusamy and Kagiso Rabada.
Bowlers: Prenelan Soubryen, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada
The Proteas will be hoping for a good performance from their spinners in the first match of the series as conditions are expected to be favorable for them in Lahore.
South Africa is expected to go into the match with at least two specialist spinners in Prenelan Subbrien and Senuran Muthusamy, while Keshav Maharaj will also be in the squad for the second Test.
As far as the Proteas’ fast bowling department is concerned, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen will return, both of whom have not played a Test since the World Test Championship final earlier this year.
In addition to this duo, the team could also use the services of fast-bowling all-rounder Wyan Mulder, who has been in good form with the bat lately and can contribute admirably with the ball.