The Australian cricket team arrived in Lahore on Wednesday for their T20I tour of Pakistan ahead of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup in February.
This is Australia’s third visit to Pakistan; They played a three-match Test and ODI series in March-April 2022, followed by a solitary T20I where they secured a narrow three-wicket victory at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Australia also played three of their 2025 Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan.
The three matches are scheduled to take place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on January 29, 31 and February 1, the PCB said in a statement.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Wednesday, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh congratulated the Pakistan team and said Australia was excited about the challenge of playing them at home in preparation for the World Cup.
“Pakistan has a great history of fast bowlers, so there is no doubt that we are looking forward to this challenge,” Marsh said in response to a question. “Especially Shaheen: he’s an incredible bowler and it’s going to be a big challenge for our group.”
Marsh added that some members of the Australian team would meet them in Sri Lanka as the tour was “really important for our preparations for the World Cup”.
“We have some guys that weren’t quite ready to be here,” he said. “But they are back home training and preparing to meet us in Sri Lanka, so absolutely no stress on our part.”
The five senior Australian players rested during the series are Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell, along with Tim David and Nathan Ellis.
Responding to a question on Pakistan’s Babar Azam, Marsh said: “Babar has been a world-class player for Pakistan for a long time. So we have great respect for him. And we know that in these conditions he is still one of the best players in the world, so we are looking forward to this challenge.”
On the Pakistan team as a whole, Marsh added: “We have great respect for them and we’re looking forward to the challenge of facing them here… we’re really excited about the opportunity.”
Salman Ali Agha, on the other hand, dismissed the view of teams as ‘big or small’ while speaking to the media.
“If you play at international level, no team can be easy… whichever team comes to us, we don’t look at whether they are number one or whether they are lower ranked than us; we look at how we can improve our cricket and what plan we can execute.”
He highlighted the importance of the games, saying: “There are certain boxes that need to be ticked – this is one of those series where we will tick all the boxes.”
Agha said an effort had been made to prepare the same type of presentations expected in Sri Lanka.
In response to a question, he questioned the notion that the absence of senior Australian players was a “golden opportunity” for Pakistan.
“Anyone who comes from the Australian team, their mentality is such that they are all good players and they think about dominating the game,” he said.
“So we can’t say that because three or four of their main players didn’t come, it’s a golden opportunity.”
Pakistan team: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (week), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (week), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (week) and Usman Tariq
Australian team: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
