Australia To Play First Test In Pakistan After 24 Years

Australia will face Pakistan in the three-match Test series, beginning Friday at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. This historic event will be seen by a huge crowd as tickets for the match have been sold out. Pakistan vs Australia Test series is named the Benaud-Qadir series, after legendary Australia all-rounder Richie Benaud and Pakistani leg-spinner Abdul Qadir. This will be the first visit by Australia since 1998. This time, Kangaroos will play three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I match against the hosts. Only three Test matches have been played in Rawalpindi since Pakistan started hosting international matches after a hiatus. After winning the T20I World Cup and retaining Ashes with a 4-0 margin, Australia captain Pat Cummins and his team are in great form.

But Australia has not clinched any Test series away home since their tour of New Zealand in 2016. The side is equipped with fast bowlers, but they would be required to adapt to turning wickets in Pakistan and this way requires the visitors to play two or more spinners in their lineup.

Australia has a tried and tested batting lineup, but lack of games in sub-continent conditions will throw a different challenge to the likes of David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head. As a skipper, Pat Cummins will lead the pace attack alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood against the hosts.

Australia’s most prominent off-spinner Nathan Lyon has completed 400 Test wickets and with 95 wickets to his credit in Asia, the hopes of Australia would rely heavily on his shoulders.