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A day before departing for the Pakistan tour, Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald says the venture to the cricket-loving nation will be safe and there are no concerns.
Australian Cricket Team is touring Pakistan for the first time in 24 years. This is going to be a full-fledged tour since there are no concerns in the minds of Australian players. The two teams will play three-match Test series, as many ODIs, and the only t20I across three major venues; Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi from 4th March to 5th April.
In 2021, before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 started, New Zealand and England turned down their respective tours to Pakistan citing security and well-being issues respectively. Undeniably, it was a big blow to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the nation’s image. However, Cricket Australia (CA) has named a full-strength squad for the Pakistan tour, composed of red-ball and limited-over series.
Andrew McDonald’s statements on historic Pakistan tour
Speaking in a virtual press conference, Andrew said,
“They’re jumping on the plane. So that to me says they’re ready to go and they are clear in their mind, that it’s going to be safe and it’s an exciting tour and they’re getting their heads around the cricket as opposed to the other things that potentially can pop into their mind.”
“Yeah, well, it’s difficult to tell in terms of Pakistan and Pakistan is different to Pakistan in the UAE. You know, they’ve got some great options, spin bowling options that, you know, fastball. Shaheen Shah Afridi, you know, keeps getting better every year. Left-arm pace swings the ball can reverse swing the ball as well, so they got some exciting players,”
“Equally, we’ve got some really exciting players as well. Mitchell Starc and Cummins and Hazlewood and Cameroon Green and our bowling attack are equally exciting. So I think it’s going to be a really good contest. Yeah, you say that Pakistan is unpredictable, but I think in their own conditions is an element of predictability. They like to draw games out. You know, they play the long game, they’re patient and they play their conditions well,”
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