After a long period of 24 years, Australia will tour Pakistan for a bilateral series. The teams have squared off in many bilateral series in Australia but the Kangaroos haven’t landed in Pakistan in the ongoing century. Australia haven’t announced their squads for the series and it isn’t known if any player has withdrawn from the tour or not.
Before the squads’ announcement, Australia’s white-ball skipper Aaron Finch has confirmed his availability for the tour and said that he can’t wait to tour Pakistan. Speaking to Sportstar, Finch said: “As a player, I can’t wait to go to Pakistan for the white-ball leg. That’s one part of the world that’s been deprived of (international) cricket for a long time now, and world cricket’s in a much better place when Pakistan’s thriving as a cricket nation.”
This will be the first time when Finch will travel to Pakistan. While the majority of the Australian players haven’t played in Pakistan, a few of them have landed there for the Pakistan Super League.
Finch, Australia’s only T20 World Cup-winning captain, will be leading the Kangaroos in 3 ODIs and 1 T20I on the tour. He has registered for the IPL 2022 auction and will have a delayed arrival in the league if he bags a bid. Finch went unsold in IPL 2021 auction.
As per the schedule, the Pakistan tour of Australia will kick off on March 4 with Rawalpindi hosting the 1st Test match. Karachi and Lahore will host the 2nd and 3rd Tests from March 12 and 21, respectively.
The three ODIs will be played on March 29, 31, and April 2 in Rawalpindi. The one-off T20I will be played at the same venue on April 5. Australia will have a new head coach for the tour as Justin Langer has resigned from the top job.
