Pakistan will assume South Africa in the first of the two-match Test series. This article provides details of South Africa’s Playing 11 against Pakistan for the first match of the series.
South Africa Plays XI vs Pakistan – 1st Test, South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025
Opener: Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton
South Africa will begin their campaign in the fourth edition of the World Test Championship with the upcoming two-match Test series against Pakistan.
The visitors will be without their usual captain, Temba Bavuma, and will be led by Aiden Markram.
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Africa have named a relatively young team that does not have much experience when it comes to playing Test matches in Pakistan.
That said, the team would take confidence from their victory against Australia in the World Test Championship final and put up a strong show with the bat, ball and in the field as they have the resources to do so.
The Proteas will open the match with Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton and hope they click and provide a solid platform for the middle-order hitters to capitalize on.
South Africa’s captain for this series, Aiden Markram, will have to take responsibility and bat long, being the captain and senior batter of the team.
Markram would be looking for a lot of support from his opening partner, Ryan Rickelton, who himself would want to have a good outing as a batter in the series opener.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Kyle Verreynne (WC), Wiaan Mulder
The first pair will be followed by a middle pair, a bit young in terms of experience in the longest format of the game, especially when it comes to batters who could bat at numbers three, four and five.
Players like Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis are still finding their feet at Test level and would be looking to get a big score in the first match itself to put some pressure on their backs.
Due to lack of experience, batters like David Bedingham and Marco Jansen will have a vital role to play in the South African batting line-up if the team is to post a total of over 350 runs on the board.
One of the Proteas’ biggest strengths ahead of the Test series against Pakistan is that the team has a deep batting line-up, stretching all the way to number eleven, with players like Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada capable of holding their own.
Bowlers: Prenelan Subrayen, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada
The Proteas would be banking on the spinners to have a good outing in the series opener as conditions are expected to favor them in Lahore.
South Africa are expected to enter the match with at least two specialist spinners in the form of Prenelan Subrayen and Senuran Muthusamy, with Keshav Maharaj joining the team for the second Test.
As for the Proteas’ fast bowling department, it will see the return of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, both of whom have not played a Test since the World Test Championship final earlier this year.
Apart from the duo, the team will also benefit from the services of fast bowling all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, who has been in good form with the bat in recent times and can also contribute extensively with the ball.
