There will be competition with Pakistan South Africa In the first match of the three-match ODI series. This article provides details about the playing 11 of Pakistan vs South Africa for the first match of the series.
Pakistan Playing XI vs South Africa – 1st ODI, Pakistan tour of South Africa 2025:
Openers: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub
Pakistan would like to continue the momentum achieved by winning the third and final T20 match against South Africa and would like to repeat the same performance in the opening match of the three-match ODI series.
Pakistan will be led in ODI cricket by new captain Shaheen Afridi, who will return as captain after leading the team in the T20 series against New Zealand last year.
This will be the first instance that Shaheen will captain the Men in Green in the ODI format of the game and the fast bowler will be hoping for a positive start.
Although Pakistan has not had much success in ODI cricket over the years, the home team is expected to go into the match with the same players that featured in the previous series against the West Indies.
The team management would be wishing for a change in fortunes following the recent successes in the other white ball format, i.e. T20I cricket and the introduction of more consistent performances in the fifty-over format.
Pakistan will start the innings with Fakhar Zaman and Sam Ayub and it will be the responsibility of this pair to give the team a strong start in the first ten overs.
Both batsmen will also look to make notable contributions individually for different reasons.
Fakhar, who is returning to the ODI setup after missing the last series against West Indies due to injury, will be looking to get back into form.
Fakhar’s opening partner would like to maintain the form shown in the T20 series against South Africa.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Hasan Nawaz, Salman Ali Aga, Mohammad Nawaz.
Like the openers, captain Shaheen Afridi would also like the middle-order batsmen to take responsibility and convert the start the batsmen get into big scores.
The team will largely depend on former captain Babar Azam to maintain the form he achieved after scoring a match-winning half-century in the third T20I in the upcoming match as well.
If Babar is able to play the expected innings, it will increase Pakistan’s chances of putting a big score on the board or chasing any target set by the opposition.
However, Babar will not be able to do it all alone and will need the support of another former captain, Mohammad Rizwan, and current T20I captain Salman Ali Aga to make useful contributions.
Bowlers: Shaheen Afridi (captain), Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
As far as bowling is concerned, it includes three usual names in the form of Shahim Afdi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, who will take care of the fast bowling department of the team.
Shaheen will be looking to replicate the performance he delivered in the final T20I against South Africa, which was also the series decider.
Along with Shaheen, Naseem Shah would also like to perform well in the opening ODI and add to his wicket tally in this format of the game.
The third fast bowling option, Haris Rauf will have to perform consistently as he has been guilty of bowling well in pieces and scoring runs at the end of the innings, which he will look to improve upon.
Experienced spinner Mohammad Nawaz will handle the spin bowling department of the team and Abrar Ahmed will support him.