Yasir Shah was the unlikely hero with the bat as the leg-spinner hit his maiden Test century against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday to rescue Pakistan from a precarious position to lift them to a 300-plus score.

Maiden Test 100 for Yasir Shah! @Domaincomau | #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/QA0x7kuH8L

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 1, 2019

When he miscued Josh Hazlewood over mid-on to take the single to get to his 100, Yasir became the second Pakistani after Saqlain Mushtaq to make his maiden first-class century in a Test match.

Yasir Shah this Test at Adelaide - 100* in 192 balls after 0/197 in 32 overs#AusvPak

�?Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 1, 2019

Twitter obviously had a field day as it sang praises of the Pakistan leggie, who has had a more memorable time with the bat rather than ball in the ongoing Test series. Check them out:

Yasir Shah has enough time to break Lara's record

�?Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) December 1, 2019

With already 134 runs in 3 innings, Yasir Shah is now Pakistan’s 2nd leading scorer in this series after Babar Azam (202). Shah has outscored Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed and Rizwan.

�?Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) December 1, 2019

Incredible century by Yasir Shah. came in at 89/6 to face fired up Starc's 12th last ball in which he got 2 wickets. batted world's No 1 Test bowler and best Test attack in their own backyard. fighting and courage innings. Congratulations @Shah64Y. #AUSvPAK

�?Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) December 1, 2019

Yasir Shah makes history with a remarkable hundred. And redeems some of our battered pride!

�?Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) December 1, 2019

Yasir Shah, 100 not out. Go you good thing. #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/u5K9IHZb0a

�?Adam Collins (@collinsadam) December 1, 2019

TAKE A BOW, YASIR SHAH #AUSvPAK #CricketForAll pic.twitter.com/jEm8bRnGga

�?Cricingif (@_cricingif) December 1, 2019

YASIR. SHAH.
Unbelievable innings!!!!
Super from Super Shah #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/kcMBMpmuGI

�?Islamabad United (@IsbUnited) December 1, 2019

Warner-esque celebrations by Yasir Shah on scoring his maiden Test century. He is all smiles. #AusvPak pic.twitter.com/AV0kKZ6ZCG

�?Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 1, 2019

Pakistan were reeling at 89-6 at one point when Yasir Shah joined hands with the classy Babar Azam, who narrowly missed out on a second-consecutive Test century (falling for 97), to put on a 100-run partnership.

He then batted admirably with the tail as the last two wickets put on 108 runs to frustrate the Aussies before Yasir was the last man to fall after scoring a superb 113 in 213 balls with the score at 302. However, it was not enough as Pakistan were asked to follow on by Tim Paine.

Feature image courtesy: AFP/ William West

Steve Smith became the fastest man to reach 7000 runs in Test cricket during his innings of 36 against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval today. The former Australia skipper took just 126 innings to get to the landmark, beating Wally Hammond��s record of 131 innings, which stood for 73 years.

The fastest to 7K - you're a star Steve Smith! �?a href="//twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/sU7uxN8vGR

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 30, 2019

Read | Dissecting the anatomy of Steve Smith’s batting technique

Naturally, Twitter could not keep calm and the plaudits started flowing in for Steve Smith. Check them out here:

Steve Smith goes past Don Bradman to become the 11th Australian player to reach 7000 Test runs

He is the quickest in the world to achieve the feat, in just 126 innings!#AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/RY2yxw2b5h

�?ICC (@ICC) November 30, 2019

Congratulations #stevesmith become the fastest 7000 runs in Test Cricket. You are in supreme form these days. a blessed player of #Cricket . Very Hard working #Australian

�?Neeraj Sharma (@neeraj10786) November 30, 2019

Many congratulations for achieving this milestone.. keep it up, you have to break many more such records#stevesmith

�?Harmeet (@mangu1313) November 30, 2019

We congrats Steve Smith for breaking the 73 year old record of legendary Wally Hammond.

Legendary Sir Don Bradman is an exceptional phenomenon.

�?Sardarzada (@sardarzadaji7) November 30, 2019

#stevesmith comeback has been amazing . It seems he never left the game . An amazing competitor and an outstanding leader. Will go down as one of the greatest cricketers ever . //t.co/Q3pLrjRrPo

�?Richard Rekhy (@richardrekhy) November 30, 2019

Nine years ago Steve Smith made his Test debut as the latest in a long list of spinners given the burden of being the new Warnie

He was destined to carry on another legacy. He's just become the fastest man ever to 7000 Test runs #AUSvsPAK pic.twitter.com/V0z5WGbl4W

�?Bilal Khan (@khanbilal_) November 30, 2019

Steve Smith has been having a renaissance of sorts since his comeback to professional cricket after the infamous ban for ball tampering in Cape Town in 2018. After a lean World Cup campaign, he came into his own in the Ashes- scoring 774 runs in just seven innings.

While he has been in sublime form, Smith has somewhat failed to fire in Australia’s ongoing Test series against Pakistan. In the first Test, he was bowled by Yasir Shah for just four, and in the second Test, could make just 36 before being dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Of course, Smith’s colleague and fellow banned team member, David Warner took away all the praises in the day as he scored a superb triple-century, his first in Tests and also went past the great Don Bradman’s record of 334.

Warner ended up with 335* as Tim Paine declared on 589/3, intent on putting a tired Pakistan to bat and hopefully conclude a second innings victory against the visitors.

Feature Image courtesy: AFP / William West

Not long ago, David Warner couldn't buy a single run in the Ashes with a certain Stuart Broad coming around the wicket and messing with his thinking. Two months later, the entire climate around the southpaw has changed. Broad is in the vicinity, but Australia don't have to face his music. The outfield is as green as in England, but the pitch is flatter. The bowlers come from a country reputed for quick bowlers, but they are not even half as menacing.

If Warner made eight single-digit scores in the Ashes, in two innings against Pakistan this series, he has already notched up three digits each. The second time, he pushed himself to compose one of the best ever knocks by an Australian in Test cricket - a sensational 335* at the Adelaide Oval, his first triple ton in Test cricket.

Warner broke a slew of records in his record-breaking innings and a number of queer stats came up along the way. Here we take a look at some of them.

• Warner's triple century is the fourth by an Australian opening batsman and the eighth by an Australian in Test cricket. Bob Simpson, Mark Taylor and Matthew Hayden were the other Australian openers to achieve the feat. 
• Warner went past Don Bradman's 334 before Australia declared at the Adelaide Oval. However, he was still behind Matthew Hayden for the highest individual score by an Australian in Test cricket. Hayden had made a record-breaking 380 against Zimbabwe which was later eclipsed by Brian Lara in his marathon 400.
• Warner's 335* is the highest score in a day-night Test and only the second-ever triple ton after Azhar Ali's 302* vs West Indies. Of the top six individual scores in day-night Tests, five are by openers. It is also the highest score in any day-night first-class game, going past Dean Jones' 324* for Victoria against South Australia in 1995.

Read | David Warner and an average of 287!

Highest individual scores in day-night Tests:

Warner - 335*

Azhar - 302*

Cook - 243

Karunaratne - 196

Nicholls - 145*

Khawaja - 145

• Warner is the sixth opener to have two scores of 250 or more in Tests. Virender Sehwag, Graeme Smith, Alastair Cook, Chris Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya are the others.
• Warner's 335* is the second-highest score against Pakistan in Test cricket after Gary Sobers' 365* in 1958 at Kingston. Virender Sehwag and Mark Taylor are the others to make triple tons against Pakistan in Tests.
• The triple century is the 31st in the history of Tests, 16th by an opener, 8th by an Australian and 4th against Pakistan.
• Warner's triple ton is the first in three years in Tests. Karun Nair's triple hundred against England in 2016 was the last in Test cricket. Australia's last was by Michael Clarke against India in 2012. 
• Warner stepped into the top highest scores in Test cricket with his 335*. It is the 10th highest in the history of Tests.
• Warner was particularly harsh on Yasir Shah and hit him for 111 runs in 110 balls. His strike rate as such was impressive (80.14) and is the fourth-best among the 31 triple tons. 

Feature image courtesy: AFP / William West

On August 22, 2016, Pakistan rose to no. 1 in the ICC rankings table following India's washed out Test against West Indies in Trinidad. It was the first time Pakistan had become the top-ranked team in Test cricket since the ratings were first introduced.

India, meanwhile, were second in the ICC Test rankings at the time. Pakistan's rise to No. 1 ranking was on the back of a slew of unbeaten series' since August 2014. Pakistan were at No. 6 prior to 2014. They beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in Sri Lanka, won 1-0 in Bangladesh, whitewashed Australia 2-0 in the UAE and further had a 2-2 draw against England in England. Against New Zealand in UAE in November 2014, Pakistan drew 1-1.

This is how the ICC Rankings looked like in August 2016:

The ICC Test table

1. Pakistan (111 rating points)
2. India (110)
3. Australia (108)
4. England (108)
5. New Zealand (99)
6. Sri Lanka (95)
7. South Africa (92)
8. West Indies (67)
9. Bangladesh (57)
10. Zimbabwe (8)

It's been three years since 2016 and Pakistan have since then had a disastrous period in Test cricket with the captaincy changing hands from the retired Misbah-ul-Haq to Sarfaraz Ahmed to Azhar Ali and senior batsman Younis Khan also retiring.

In 25 Tests after August 2016, Pakistan have won just eight and lost a whopping 16 games. The only teams to lose more in this time frame are England and Bangladesh, although the former have played 16 Tests more than Pakistan.

The only teams with a worse win/loss ratio than Pakistan's 0.5 in this period are Bangladesh (0.352), Zimbabwe (0.16) and newbies Ireland (0).

Read | Is Pakistan’s Naseem Shah really only 16 years old?

Pakistan's demise was on full show at The Gabba against Australia in the first Test of the series. They lost by a whopping margin of an innings and five runs. In Australia, Pakistan last won a Test match in 1995. Since then, they have lost 13 Test matches on the trot including twice by an innings in the last three Tests.

In the 11 series (excluding the ongoing one) since August 2016, Pakistan have won four - twice against West Indies, once against Australia in UAE and a one-off Test (which is also a series) against Ireland. They have also managed two drawn series. Pakistan have not just lost the remaining five Test series but won only one Test match in these five series - against New Zealand (twice), Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. In four of these five Test series, Pakistan were whitewashed.

The detrimental results have seen them drop dramatically in the ICC rankings. They are placed no. 7 in the official Test rankings.

ICC Test Rankings currently:

Ranking	Team	Rating Points
1	India	119
2	New Zealand	109
3	England	104
4	South Africa	102
5	Australia	99
6	Sri Lanka	95
7	Pakistan	84
8	West Indies	80
9	Bangladesh	61
10	Afghanistan	55
11	Zimbabwe	16
12	Ireland	0

With another whitewash in sight, Pakistan will want to redeem the reputation they had in whites under Misbah the captain.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan

Pakistan were left to rue a basic error from 16-year-old debutant Naseem Shah as Australia opener David Warner plundered the visitors' attack with a brilliant 151 not out on the second day of the first Test at the Gabba on Friday.

Australia finished the day on 312 for the loss of just one wicket, 72 runs ahead of Pakistan's first innings total of 240 and already in the driving seat.

Marnus Labuschagne was alongside Warner on 55, with the only wicket to fall that of Joe Burns, who made 97 before sweeping a Yasir Shah (1-101) delivery onto his stumps.

Most international 100s for AUS
70 - Ricky Ponting
40 - DAVID WARNER
40 - Matthew Hayden
38 - Mark Waugh
36 - Michael Clarke
35 - Steve Waugh
34 - Steve Smith
33 - Adam Gilchrist
30 - Allan Border
29 - Don Bradman
@CricketAus #AUSvPAK

�?Swamp (@sirswampthing) November 22, 2019

Warner scored his first Test century since a year-long ban for ball-tampering, but only after a huge let-off when he was caught behind off a Naseem no-ball.

The mercurial opener was on 56 at the time, and he then survived a near run-out on 93 before ending a century drought stretching back nearly two years.

The 33-year-old, who managed just 95 runs in 10 innings during this year's Ashes series against England, reached his 22nd Test ton when he turned Yasir around the corner for a single in the second over after tea.

Before the Ashes, he spent a year in the wilderness over the ball-tampering scandal and there were questions as to whether his days as an automatic choice at the top of the order were over.

However, in home conditions and against an attack that struggled for sideways movement, Warner was in imperious form as he brought up his fourth Test century at the Gabba.

In the second last over of the day, Warner had another close shave when he was beaten by an Imran Khan delivery that brushed the off stump without disturbing the bails.

- Overstepping the mark -

Naseem looked impressive on debut and regularly bowled at over 145 kilometres (90 miles) per hour, but he was guilty of overstepping the mark on a number of occasions, despite not being called by the umpire.

In the second over after lunch, he enticed an expansive drive from Warner, who nicked the ball to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

16-year-old Naseem Shah's just had his first Test wicket taken away after overstepping! And of course it had to be David Warner .Legend Waqar Younis #CRICKET#AUS VS PAK pic.twitter.com/ylTzd53IpT

�?Muhammad Noman (@Nomancricket29) November 22, 2019

But Warner had barely left the crease when he was called back after TV umpire Michael Gough picked up that Naseem had again overstepped the mark.

Warner and Burns were largely untroubled during their 222-run partnership on a day when the Pakistan bowlers could get neither swing nor spin.

Naseem looked like he belonged on the big stage with a number of bristling spells before leaving the field late in the day with an apparent leg injury.

But the lack of movement meant Warner and Burns were able to play him with relative ease, although he smashed Burns on the elbow two balls before the lunch break.

Burns looked certain to join Warner in reaching a century before a lapse in concentration saw him drag a Yasir ball onto his stumps three runs short of a second hundred in as many Tests.

Labuschagne, who was a revelation on the Ashes tour, replaced Burns and breezed to an impressive 55 not out.  

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan

You must surely have heard of Naseem Shah, the latest Pakistani pace bowling sensation picked from the streets to play Test cricket. His bowling action has been compared to that of Shane Bond, Richard Hadlee and Dennis Lillee already and there is a whole lot of buzz around the youngster.

He has been trending on social media for his bowling spells against Australia A in the build-up to the first Test match, and from what we have seen of him, the lad is a fiery pace bowler with good whippy action and an ability to bounce out batsmen.

At 16, that's an incredible feat, particularly when you have Aussie Test stars hopping on their feet to play him out. But the question is if he is only 16.

A piece published in October 2016 in Pakistan’s website, Dawn, has Andy Roberts speaking about Naseem - “I must say that I very much liked a young fast bowler by the name of Naseem. He is just a 16-year-old."

As part of Quetta Gladiators, Naseem was often written about as a 17-year old while there are YouTube videos also from a year or so back where he is deemed to be 16. It's 2019, three years to the day the Dawn published that piece on Naseem Shah, and he is still only 16.

Google has listed his date of birth as 15 February 2003. But many of Pakistan's greatest players have defied Google with their age. Take Shahid Afridi for instance. He was deemed to be only 16 when he blasted the fastest ODI ton at the time in 1996. Earlier this year in his autobiography, Afridi himself clarified that he was 19 at the time.

Mushtaq Mohammad and Hasan Raza made their debuts at 15 and 14 years, respectively. Raza remains the youngest Test cricketer by the record, but the age of both the aforementioned players is highly suspected. That this is a perennial issue in Pakistan means that Naseem may be another whose age is inappropriately marked. Pakistan have done little to stifle this age fraud and athletes continue to extend their career well into the 40s when they are only in their early 30s on paper.

Read: Test cricket to finally return to Pakistan with Sri Lanka tour

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan

Captain Tim Paine said Wednesday Australia were wary of being "surprised" by Pakistan's young pace attack, which could include 16-year-old sensation Naseem Shah, and admitted they had been studying as much footage as possible.

The home team go into the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane starting Thursday as overwhelming favourites, with Pakistan having lost losing their last 12 five-day matches in Australia.

But the tourists' attack has an element of the unknown, with not only Naseem tipped to make his debut but 19-year-old pacemen Shaheen Afridi and Musa Khan in the squad.

"We've prepared for all of them. That's the thing with Pakistan, they have a lot of different options, a lot of skill and by the looks of it a fair bit of pace," said Paine.

"So we've made sure we've looked at as much footage as possible of their pace attack, and their batters.

"What we don't want is to go out there tomorrow at some stage and be surprised by something we see, whether that's their spinner, their quicks or their batsmen. So we've done our research."

Naseem, whose mother died last week, has only played seven first-class games, but impressed with a fiery eight-over spell against Australia A in Perth in the build-up.

Paine said he had played with 16-year-olds in club cricket, but never on such a big stage.

"He looks like a really, really exciting talent," he said. 

"Pakistan have got a knack of finding these young fast bowlers so it looks like they have another one to add to that rich history of fast bowlers that they seem to produce."

Pakistan also boast the impressive Muhammad Abbas and veteran Imran Khan senior among their fast bowling arsenal while Yasir Shah is a prolific leg-spinner.

Reliance on Smith

They will be hoping to make quick inroads into the Australian top order in Brisbane, but face huge hurdles in knocking over David Warner and Steve Smith.

Smith carried his side in the recent Ashes series against England and Paine said he wanted to see the rest of the batsmen offer him more support against Pakistan.

"Probably during the Ashes we relied too heavily on Steve, so the rest of top seven are really keen to score a lot of runs," he said.

"Traditionally we love batting in Australia, we have had some real success on this ground, it's a great ground to bat on if you can get in and spend a lot of time out there."

Joe Burns, who scored a century in his last Test against Sri Lanka in February, is expected to open with Warner. Smith or Marnus Labuschagne will bat at number three, followed by Travis Head, Matthew Wade and Paine.

Coach Justin Langer echoed Paine's call for more consistency from Australia's batting line-up.

"We're number five in the world in Test cricket at the moment, and there's reasons for that," Langer said. 

"One of them is that we don't score 300-plus in the first innings enough. Our batters are very aware of that.

"We're not going to shy away from that. It's no secret. We know we've got to keep improving and I'm confident we will."

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Saeed Khan

India and Bangladesh are set to play their maiden day-night Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata starting this Friday. It is set to be a historic moment for both teams, with the move being seen as one to increase fan engagement for Tests in the cricket-crazy countries.

While this may be a first for the Asian powerhouses, the concept of pink-ball Tests has existed for four years. The first day-night pink-ball Test was played between traditional rivals, Australia and New Zealand, at the Adelaide Oval in 2015. There have been 11 Tests which have used pink balls since, and four of them have seen innings victories.

Interestingly, every pink-ball Test has thrown up results, though that can be attributed to reasons more than just the change in colour of the ball. Nonetheless, we take a look at some of the thrillers that pink-ball Tests have thrown up over the years.

Australia vs New Zealand | Adelaide 2015

The pink-ball made its debut in a Test match with a bang. Trans-tasman rivals, Australia and New Zealand played the third Test of their series at the Adelaide Oval, which has now become Australia’s designated day-night Test venue along with The Gabba. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first but the move did not work out too well. They managed to put up a laboured 202 on the board, with the help of Tom Latham’s fighting half-century and some handy contributions from the lower order.

Australia did not do too well either, making only 224 with then captain, Steve Smith and wicket-keeper, Peter Nevill making fifties. Only some late hitting from Lyon and Starc helped them take a narrow 22-run lead in the first innings. The Kiwis�?second-innings was marginally better. They scored 208 even as Josh Hazlewood snared six wickets, including three of the top four. The burst gave the Aussies a 187-run target, but it was anything but easy.

They made a brisk start before Joe Burns fell with the score at 34. Wickets fell at regular intervals when the Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, put on a 46-run stand for the fifth wicket to effectively seal the game. Both of them fell in the space of 15 runs though, and Australia lost Peter Nevill too but luckily by then, the score was at 185, and Peter Siddle ensured Australia emerged the winner in the landmark Test.

Pakistan vs West Indies | Dubai 2016

The second-ever pink-ball Test also saw a good contest but the scene had shifted to the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It was the first Test of the series and it also saw Babar Azam and Mohammad Nawaz make their Test debuts for Pakistan. Pakistan won the toss and batted first, and the decision was vindicated by their batters, especially Azhar Ali. Post a 215-run opening partnership with Sami Aslam, the opener kept batting and eventually brought up a triple-century in 469 balls, with Pakistan declaring immediately after at a mammoth 579/3.

West Indies posted 357 in response with fifties from Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, with Yasir Shah picking up a fifer to give Pakistan a 222-run lead after the first innings. Pakistan’s second essay embodied their inconsistency as the team fell like ninepins while searching for quick runs. They were bowled out for 123, with only four players entering double figures. It gave the Windies 346 to chase, and they sensibly went for the defensive option of surviving for a day-and-a-half.

First innings�?half-centurion, Darren Bravo made a fighting century, stitching important partnerships along the way with Roston Chase and skipper, Jason Holder. However, once Bravo fell, Pakistan quickly ran through the tail to win a game that they had jeopardized on their own.

Read: The differences between red and pink ball in Test cricket

Australia vs Pakistan | Brisbane 2016

Pakistan were part of another thrilling pink-ball Test, though this time they were on the receiving end of a loss, against Australia at The Gabba. The hosts won the toss and predictably batted first. Skipper Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb scored magnificent centuries, and aided by Matt Renshaw’s 71 and some late-hitting by Nathan Lyon, they put up 429 in their first innings. Pakistan capitulated in response, with only Sarfaraz Ahmed showing some semblance of a fight with a half-century as the Asian nation folded for 142.

The Aussies batted again, and this time, Khawaja and Smith helped themselves to fifties while Handscomb provided the finishing touches as they declared on 202/5, giving Pakistan a near-impossible 489 to chase down. And they almost did. They lost Sami Aslam and Babar Azam early before Azhar Ali and Younis Khan scored fifties to steady the innings a bit. The duo fell within 20 runs off each other, and add to it the wickets of Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Pakistan were tottering at 220-6.

However, Pakistan found their hero in No.6, Asad Shafiq who batted out of his skin, putting up 98 for the seventh wicket with Mohammad Amir and a further 66 with Wahab Riaz for the eighth as he brought up a wonderful fourth-innings century. Shafiq continued hitting after his ton but could not deal with a rising bouncer from Starc as he fell for a heroic 137. Yasir Shah was the last man to be dismissed with the score at 450, meaning Pakistan fell short of a record chase by 40 runs.

West Indies vs Sri Lanka | Bridgetown 2018

A low-scoring Test is an exciting game more often than not and the fact that it came with a pink-ball made it even better. Jason Holder won the toss for West Indies and told his batsmen to make merry on a fresh pitch. They did not quite respond to his call, though. Devon Smith was dismissed in the first over, and four more batsmen followed him to the pavilion soon, with them struggling at 53-5.

Wicket-keeper, Shane Dowrich and skipper Jason Holder rescued the team with counter-attacking fifties. The duo shared a 115-run stand for the sixth wicket before the team eventually folded for 204. Sri Lanka performed even worse, with no batsman managing a half-century. The closest to that score was Niroshan Dickwella, who top-scored with 42 but it was not enough with the team scoring only 154.

West Indies outdid themselves in the second innings, with only four batsmen making it to double-digits as they racked up a grand total of 93, giving Sri Lanka 143 to chase in the fourth innings. Holder once again took responsibility, this time with the ball, picking five wickets to leave Sri Lanka limping at 81-6, before the Pereras, Kusal and Dilruwan prevented further damage, putting on 63 for the seventh wicket and ensuring Sri Lanka won a low-scoring thriller.

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Paul Ellis

Pakistan head into the opening Test in Brisbane on Thursday seeking a rare win on Australian soil, and could unleash a 16-year-old debutant in a teenage pace attack against seasoned stars Steve Smith and David Warner.

Pakistan have drawn a series in Australia, but have never won one, and last tasted a Test victory at Sydney in 1995.

A handful of players, including new skipper Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and the in-form Asad Shafiq, were part of their last tour in 2016/17 when they crashed 3-0, but are better for it, said then-captain and now head coach Misbah-ul-Haq..

"Our previous record in Australia won't put us under pressure," he said.

"If anything, it'll be an opportunity and motivation to win because whatever we couldn't achieve in the past, we can do now.

"It's a young and hungry team and it means business," he added. "This team wants to take the challenge. We want to give our best, play good cricket and think about winning."

They will be relying heavily on Azam and Shafiq, who scored a century in Brisbane three years ago and has had a perfect lead-up this time, hitting an unbeaten 119 against Australia A then 101 not out against a Cricket Australia XI.

Australia, though, are on a roll. They retained the Ashes with a 2-2 draw in England in September and beat Pakistan 2-0 in their recent Twenty20 series.

How the bowlers fare will be key on a Gabba wicket traditionally seen as a paceman's paradise.

Australia boast the experienced Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, however James Pattinson will be missing after being suspended this week for player abuse.

Pakistan may unveil teenage quick Naseem Shah, 16, for his debut as part of a young attack boasting 19-year-olds Shaheen Afridi and Musa Khan, alongside the impressive Muhammad Abbas and veteran Imran Khan senior.

Read | Naseem Shah: Pakistan’s next pace bowling sensation

Their credentials were on show in the build-up against an Australian A team in Perth featuring Test players Joe Burns, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft, dismissing them for 122.

But removing Smith and Warner -- in their first home Test since their ball-tampering bans -- will likely be a different proposition.

Skipper Tim Paine said the Australia A game was irrelevant.

"I saw that Pakistan are smelling blood in the water or whatever they said," he told reporters.

"What happened in Perth has got nothing to do with what is going to happen at the Gabba."

While Warner had a miserable Ashes, scoring just 95 runs at an average of 9.5, he has since bounced back into form.

Smith, meanwhile, is still revelling in his remarkable series in England, where he scored 774 runs in just seven innings and played a pivotal role in his side's two victories.

Ominously for Pakistan, he hit a century when they last played in Brisbane in late 2016.

Despite his poor Ashes run, Warner's spot at the top of the order was never in doubt, but Australia have struggled to find a suitable partner.

Burns, who scored a century in his last Test against Sri Lanka in February, is set to assume the job in Brisbane ahead of Bancroft.

Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Matthew Wade round out the middle order.

The second and final Test, a day-night affair, is in Adelaide later this month.

Australia squad: Tim Paine (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (capt), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan senior, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashid Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Nusa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ William West

At one glance, he appears to be like Dennis Lillee. At another, he looks like Shane Bond. In yet another, there is a distinct tinge of Dominic Cork to his action. He is none of these, but could well go on to become as good as some of these in a few years down the lane. Meet Pakistan's sixteen-year-old pace bowling sensation, Naseem Shah.

The Pakistan bowling attack touring Australia is young and raw, but that could well prove to be an advantage if Naseem is an example of how raw they are.

"He's not as big as Dennis �?Dennis was a big guy �?but when he gets it right, he's a handful," Waqar Younis, Pakistan's bowling coach, said of Naseem. The teenage sensation lost his mother on Monday with Pakistan playing Australia A in a tour game.

While Naseem was given permission to go back home to attend the funeral and take part in the mourning, the fact that he wouldn't have reached before the funeral made him stay back in Australia.

But no, he wasn't mourning the death of his mother, not at least in public view. Instead, Naseem went on to rip open the Australian A side, some of which were Test cricketers, in a probing spell worth writing home about.

Such was the attention Naseem Shah drew that Cricket Australia’s twitter handle was buzzing with videos of his incredible showing. A brief summary of his spell shows how good and near-impossible it was to negotiate Naseem Shah.

Smoke!

16-year-old Naseem Shah impressed with his serious pace against the Australia A top order. #AUSAvPAK pic.twitter.com/tHx9XEK9BS

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

His incredible performance drew instant comparisons to Shane Bond because of a very similar whippy action. Cricket Australia put up a comparison video which shows the two bowlers side by side and we just wouldn't have made out who is who if not for the ODI jersey Bond is wearing.

Naseem Shah says he's been told his action is similar to that of former NZ quick Shane Bond.#AUSAvPAK pic.twitter.com/PCKQ7jHWId

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

He only picked up a single wicket in his exceptional spell of fast bowling but it had the opponents and social media raving about the talent in him.

Naseem gets a well-deserved wicket with a searing short ball!

Watch #AusAvPAK: //t.co/fej6gSpsJZ pic.twitter.com/DbFS0qO30F

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

Unfortunately, he could have had one more wicket if Pakistan hadn't let go of a chance at slip of his bowling.

Put down at first slip!

Naseem Shah is bowling beautifully in Perth.

Watch #AusAvPAK: //t.co/fej6gSpsJZ pic.twitter.com/Kh4iipZ4e1

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

Naseem had hit the headlines earlier too when his raw pace became noted at junior levels. He impressed in the Pakistan colours for under-15 teams with his pace and missed out on a PSL debut earlier this year due to injury.

However, Misbah-ul-Haq's tenure as selector helped him get a nod ahead of some regular names and Naseem is here to delight. It is highly expected that he would start for Pakistan in the first Test against Australia later this month.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @ICC