Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the 16-member T20I and Test squads for the upcoming Australia tour. Recently eliminated-captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has missed out both these squads.
In the forthcoming Pakistan tour of Australia, they will play the three-match T20I and two-match Test series. The T20I series will run from 3rd to 8th November 2019.
Meanwhile, after that T20I series, they will play the Test series between 21st November and 3rd December 2019. The second Test of this series will be the day/night Test match. With this Test series, Pakistan will begin their journey in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (2019-21). However, it will be Australia’s second Test series and first home series under the 2019-21 ICC WTC.
Before the T20I series, Pakistan will play a T20 tour game against Cricket Australia XI on 31st October 2019. Also, the visitors will play two multi-day warm-up matches before the Test series. They will play the three-day day/night game against Australia A (11th-13th November 2019) and the two-day game against Cricket Australia XI (15th-16th November 2019).
Babar Azam will lead the T20I side while Azhar Ali will play the Test captain role for Pakistan. Just a few days ago, Sarfaraz Ahmed was dropped from the T20I and Test captaincy roles due to the recent poor performances.
Now, the wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed has missed out both the squads for the upcoming Australia tour. Mohammad Rizwan will handle the wicketkeeping role in the forthcoming Australia tour. Senior players Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez have also missed out the Australia tour squads.
Many new faces in both the squads
There are some new faces in the squads. Talking about teenagers, apart from the 19-year-old left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, the PCB has chosen two uncapped youngsters. The 19-year-old Musa Khan and 16-year-old Naseem Shah are the two uncapped players. While Musa is a seamer and has got the opportunity in both squads, Naseem is a fast bowler and has earned the opportunity only in the Test squad.
Khushdil Shah and Usman Qadir are also the two new faces in the T20I squad. The 24-year-old Khushdil is a middle-order batsman while Qadir is the 26-year-old leg-spinner, like his late father Abdul Qadir.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old all-rounder Kashif Bhatti is the new face in Test cricket.
Senior pacers like the 37-year-old Mohammad Irfan has returned to the T20I squad and the 32-year-old Imran Khan snr has returned to the Test squad. The left-arm pacer Irfan played the last international match (ODI format) in September 2016. Meanwhile, the right-arm pacer Imran played his last Test match in January 2017.
Only Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Musa Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Sohail are the players who are in both squads.
Full Pakistan squads for the upcoming Australia tour
T20I squad: Babar Azam (captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz.
Test squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr., Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.
Pakistan’s full schedule of their tour of Australia in 2019/20
(Only 20-over Tour game)
31st October 2019: Cricket Australia XI vs Pakistan – Bankstown (Sydney)
(Three-match bilateral T20I series)
3rd November 2019: First T20I – Sydney Cricket Ground (Sydney)
5th November 2019: Second T20I – Manuka Oval (Canberra)
8th November 2019: Third T20I – Perth Stadium (Perth)
(Two multi-day Tour games)
Three-day match
11th-13th November 2019 (Day/Night): Australia A vs Pakistan – Perth Stadium (Perth)
Two-day match
15th-16th November 2019: Cricket Australia XI vs Pakistan – WACA Ground (Perth)
(Two-match bilateral Test series)
21st-25th November 2019: First Test – The Gabba (Brisbane)
29th November-3rd December 2019 (Day/Night): Second Test – Adelaide Oval (Adelaide)