Pakistan Playing XI vs South Africa- 1st ODI, South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025
Published - 04 Nov 2025, 12:30 PM
Table of Contents
Pakistan will be up against South Africa in the first of the three-match ODI series. This article provides details about Pakistan's Playing 11 vs South Africa for the first match of the series.
Pakistan Playing XI vs South Africa- 1st ODI, South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025:
Openers: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub
Pakistan would want to continue the momentum the team has picked up courtesy of a win in the third and final T20I against South Africa and replicate the same performance in the opening game of the three-match ODI series.
Pakistan will be led by a new captain in ODI cricket, Shaheen Afridi, who returns as the captain having previously led the team in the T20I series against New Zealand last year.
This will be the first instance when Shaheen will captain the Men in Green in the ODI format of the game, and the fast bowler would hope for a positive start.
Although Pakistan hasn't had a great deal of success in ODI cricket in the last couple of years, the home team is expected to go into the match with the same core of players that featured in the last series against the West Indies.
The team management would wish for a change in fortunes following the recent successes in the other white ball format, i.e., T20I cricket, and the start of more consistent performances in the fifty-over format.
Pakistan will open the innings with Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub, and the pair will be entrusted to get the team off to a strong start in the first ten overs.
Both batters would like to make a notable contribution individually as well, for different reasons.
Fakhar, who is making a comeback in the ODI setup after missing the last series against the West Indies due to an injury, would look to get back into the groove.
Whereas Fakhar's opening partner would want to build on the form he showed in the T20I series against South Africa
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz
Like the openers, the captain, Shaheen Afridi, would also want the middle order batters to take responsibility and convert the start that the batters get into a big score
The team would heavily rely on former captain Babar Azam to carry the form that he picked up after scoring a match-winning half-century in the third T20I into the upcoming match.
If Babar can deliver on the expected innings, it will increase Pakistan's chance of posting a big score on the board or chasing whatever target is set by the opposition.
However, Babar won't be able to do it all alone and would require the support of another former captain, Mohammad Rizwan, and current T20I captain Salman Ali Agha to make handy contributions.
Bowlers: Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
As far as the bowling is concerned, it comprises three usual names in the form of Shaheem Afidi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah, who will take care of the team's fast bowling department.
Shaheen would like to replicate the performance he put on in the final T20I against South Africa, which was also the series decider.
Along with Shaheen, Naseem Shah would also want to have a good outing in the opening ODI and add to his tally of wickets in this format of the game.
The third fast bowling option, Haris Rauf, would look for a consistent performance as he has been guilty of bowling well in patches and going for runs at the backend of the innings, which is something he would like to rectify.
Experienced spinner Mohammad Nawaz will handle the team's spin bowling department and will be assisted by Abrar Ahmed.
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Pakistan National Cricket Team South Africa National Cricket Team Pakistan vs South Africa South Africa vs Pakistan Shaheen Afridi Matthew Breetzke
