Captain Shan Masood insists Pakistan has no intention of playing for draws in the Test series with Australia, despite the tourists entering the first match as rank outsiders.

While the Australians plan to field a predictable XI, Masood was tight-lipped on the make-up of his side for the first Test, which begins at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Thursday.

Pakistan has gone winless in five Test tours Down Under since 1995 and is set to face a full-strength Australian side that monstered the West Indies and South Africa last summer and has since won the World Test Championship.

Some bookmakers have a Pakistan victory in Perth as far afield as $8.

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But as he prepares his side for the first of three matches, the new skipper is adamant the visitors will be taking it to the Australians in pursuit of a result.

“You have to be positive,” Masood said.

“It’s picking your battles, it’s being sensible, and it’s about seeing the requirement of the games and seeing what are the ways we can save time in the game and create a situation where taking 20 wickets would be easy.”

The go-hard-or-go-home attitude comes as Pakistan grapples with keeping Test cricket relevant back home.

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Pakistan is a perennial contender in the white-ball formats, finishing as runners-up at the most recent T20 World Cup in Australia last year, and missing out on the final four at this year’s World Cup by only one win.

In the longer format, Pakistan is ranked sixth by the ICC and played only two Test matches this year during the northern hemisphere summer, neither of which were at home.

Australia will finish 2023 having played a total of 13 Test matches – nearly three times as many as Pakistan, which will have had five.

“It’s not enough. We’d obviously like more Test cricket,” Masood said.

“We all love playing Test cricket. It’s the ultimate. It’s the pinnacle.

“I think by being a side that is a winning side, that produces results at home and overseas, we might get more Test cricket in the future.

“For us it’s about the bigger picture. We want to come into these conditions and see what are the best ways to win a cricket match.

“We’ll make mistakes, we might not get over the line, but it’ll be a great learning for us.”

Masood would not reveal whether there would be room for front-line spinner Noman Ali in his XI, or whether one of the two wicketkeeper options Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan could be selected as a specialist batter.

“We’d like to have a final look at the pitch,” Masood said.

“There haven’t been a lot of Test matches played at this venue, so I think we’d like to have a final look before we can decide what’s best for us.”

-AAP