Australia opt to bowl; Ayub and Irfan Khan debut

Toss Australia chose to bowl vs Pakistan

Australia have opted to bowl on a cool MCG day after Pakistan handed ODI debuts to opening batter Saim Ayub and middle-order batter Irfan Khan.

Wasim Akram presented the duo their new Pakistan caps.

Ayub and Abdullah Shafique will form a new opening combination in Pakistan's ODI side despite a terrible record as the Test opening pair. Babar Azam returns at No. 3 after being rested from the final two Tests against England back home. Captain Mohammad Rizwan is listed to bat at No. 4. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah also return as part of a four-man pace attack.

Australia's quicks will hope to make early incisions with Mitchell Starc coming off seven wickets in a Sheffield Shield game at the MCG just a fortnight ago. Josh Hazlewood is not playing as he is currently playing in the Shield for New South Wales and will join the squad for the second ODI in Adelaide.

Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk will open the batting for Australia as expected with Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh absent for the entire series on paternity leave. Josh Inglis will slot in at No. 4 as he did a couple of times in England, with Steven Smith batting at No. 3 and Marnus Labuschagne remaining at No. 5. Aaron Hardie has been listed ahead of Glenn Maxwell but the order may be fluid as Australia like to use Maxwell as a floater.

Pakistan are playing their first ODI since the 2023 World Cup. Test coach Jason Gillespie takes charge as the interim coach after the resignation of Gary Kirsten as Pakistan's white-ball coach just prior to the tour.

Australia 1 Matthew Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Aaron Hardie, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa

Pakistan 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Ali Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Shaheen Shah Afridi b Starc 24 (19b 3x4 1x6) SR: 126.31