Australia’s tour of Pakistan will commence with the Test series.
Australia is currently in Pakistan for an all-format bilateral series starting with the first Test on March 4 in Rawalpindi. This is indeed a huge moment for the Aussies who have landed in the neighboring country for a cricket series after the 1998-99 season. Pace sensation Pat Cummins will be leading them with Steve Smith as his deputy whereas, Aaron Finch is the limited-overs skipper.
Just days ahead of the commencement of the highly-anticipated bilateral series, Australia Cricketers’ Association chief executive Todd Greenberg has said that this tour would be a huge moment for global cricket. Greenberg along with the CEO of Cricket Australia (CA) Nick Hockley was with the Australian squad that had landed in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad on February 27.
I think going to Pakistan together is great: Todd Greenberg
“It’s a big moment for Australian cricket and I think it’s a big moment for global cricket that an Australian team will tour Pakistan. I think going to Pakistan together is great. It’s something we talked about several months ago when there was, as you can appreciate, a fair bit of anxiety amongst the players about this tour,” Greenberg was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo prior to their departure.
“We’ve done a huge amount of work together in planning for this tour and a lot of communication with the players and their families”, he added.
This will be Australia’s first series without head coach Justin Langer who had stepped down earlier this month and as per reports, his successor could possibly be named in March. After a successful Ashes down under in December-January, it remains to be seen whether the Pat Cummins-led side can carry their momentum into this series as they eye dominance on Asian soil.
Coming back to the bilateral series, the second and the third Test matches will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi and Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 12 and 21 respectively. The three-match ODI series will be played in Rawalpindi on March 29, 31, and April 2 while the one-off T20I will be contested at the same venue on April 5.
