Pakistan's ODI team's skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, right, with his Australian counterpart Josh Inglis ahead of the three-match ODI series. | Photo Credit: AP

Under-strength Australia and Pakistan meet in the first of three one-day internationals in Rawalpindi on Saturday, aiming to build strong combinations for next year’s World Cup.

Australia is without its regular skipper Pat Cummins along with his pace partners Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood and opener Travis Head -- all rested to manage their workloads following their stints in the India Premier League.

Mitchell Marsh, initially appointed captain for the tour, was also ruled out with an ankle injury, leaving Josh Inglis to lead the series with the last two matches in Lahore on June 2 and 4.

Despite being depleted, Inglis termed the squad as talented enough to put up a good fight.

“Obviously, disappointing to lose Mitch and unfortunately we are missing some others but we have some exciting players in the squad,” said Inglis on Friday.

Australia will look to draft in 19-year-old batter Ollie Peake and pace allrounder Liam Scott while lanky pacer Billy Stanlake makes a return after a seven-year gap.

Inglis said the Pakistan team will not be taken lightly.

“Pakistan is a seriously good cricket team and they are not to be taken lightly and we have to be on top of our game to come up against them,” said the stand-in skipper.

Pakistan will also miss regular openers Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub who both miss the series with injuries while experienced wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan was dropped.

Two years ago, Rizwan led Pakistan to its first ODI series win in Australia since 2002.

Experienced batter Babar Azam, pacer Naseem Shah and all-rounder Shadab Khan return after missing Pakistan’s 2-1 ODI series defeat in Bangladesh two months ago.

Skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi hoped his team would show improvement and make its 1,000th ODI memorable.

“I believe we are working towards that goal of the World Cup and when you are preparing the team for that event you have to give opportunity to some new players and that we are doing,” said Shaheen.

“It’s a special occasion of 1,000 match so we want to make it memorable,” said Shaheen.

Australia (1019) and India (1075) are the two other teams to have played 1,000 ODIs.

Pakistan is going through a heat wave in the summer and to minimise the effect of stifling weather, the matches will start as late as 4:30pm.

Inglis admitted weather will be a challenge with players coming from winter in Australia.

“It’s been very hot and challenging, but thankfully it’s a late start so it will be cool by the time we start,” said Inglis, who has led Australia in one ODI two years ago.

Published on May 29, 2026