Pakistan elect to bowl in shortened T20I series-opener v Australia

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and elected to bowl in a truncated first of a three-match T20I series against Australia in Brisbane on Thursday.

The match will be reduced to a contest with seven overs per side after a delayed start due to heavy rain and lightning.

Two bowlers can bowl two overs and three can bowl one each.

After a surprising 2-1 victory in the recent three-match ODI series, Pakistan are chasing a rare double in Australia as they return to cricket's shortest format for the first time since their early exit in June's T20 World Cup.

Having led his team to their first series victory against the Australians in Australia in 22 years, Rizwan has also taken the reins of the T20 side after Babar Azam stepped down last month.

A shorthanded Australia are without several top players, who are preparing for the upcoming blockbuster test series against India.

Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, who captained Australia for the first time in the third ODI against Pakistan, will take the reins for the entire series in the absence of skipper Mitchell Marsh, who is on paternity leave.

AUSTRALIA: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Josh Inglis (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis,Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

PAKISTAN: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c/wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haseebullah Khan, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah