Pakistan and Australia head into a winner-take-all third and final test from Monday (March 21) as Test cricket returns to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium for the first time since the 2009 attack by gunmen on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team. Top teams have largely shunned Pakistan since the attack that killed six policemen and two civilians with Australia visiting the country for the first time in 24 years. 


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The Test will also be a first for Pakistan captain Babar Azam in his home city. “It’s a different feeling to play in front of a home crowd, at my home ground. I can`t explain this feeling,” Babar told reporters on Sunday (March 20), adding that it will be a proud moment for the country and his team if they can win the series. 


While Australia named an unchanged side from the one that failed to clinch a win in Karachi, Pakistan will take a call after taking a final look at the wicket. Babar’s epic 196 and Mohammad Rizwan`s gallant century helped the hosts snatch draw from the jaws of defeat in the second test in Karachi after the opening match also ended in a stalemate in Rawalpindi. 


“We took a lot of confidence from the way the team played the last Test,” Babar said. “We will take that confidence into the final test and we will be playing to win, that will be our mindset.” 


With batters dominating the series so far, the Pakistan Cricket Board hired Toby Lumsden, the former curator of the International Cricket Council academy, to oversee the preparations of the pitch for Lahore. Both Babar and his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins said they did not expect the Gaddafi Stadium pitch to be much different from the first two Tests. 


“There’s not a lot of grass on it,” Cummins said. “I think it’s had quite a lot of traffic throughout the PSL (Pakistan Super League) on it as well. It seems hard, but I can`t see it being too much different from the other ones.” 


Pakistan vs Australia 3rd Test Match Details 


Venue: Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore 


Date & Time: March 21st to 25th, 10.30 AM IST onwards 


Live Stream and TV details: Sony TV network and Sony Liv website and app 


Pakistan vs Australia 3rd Test Dream11 Team Prediction 


Wicket-keeper: Mohammad Rizwan 


Batters: David Warner, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Babar Azam, Abdullah Shafique 


All-rounders: Marnus Labuschagne, Nauman Ali 


Bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Hasan Ali 


Captain: Usman Khawaja 


Vice-Captain: Mohammad Rizwan 


Pakistan vs Australia 3rd Test Probable Playing XIs: 


Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam(c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Nauman Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Sajid Khan 


Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Swepson