Australia to tour Pakistan next year for the first time since 1998

Australia will tour Pakistan in March and April next year — the country’s first since 1998 — to play a series of Test, ODI and T20 matches, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Monday.

In a statement, the PCB said the visiting team will play three Tests, three one day internationals (ODIs) and one Twenty-20 international (T20I) match.

The Test matches will be played in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore from March 3 to 25, the PCB said, adding that all four white-ball matches will be played in Lahore form March 29 to April 5.

“The Tests will be played as part of the ICC World Test Championship, while the ODIs will be connected to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League — a 13-team event from which the seven highest-placed sides and the hosts, India, will qualify directly for the event proper in 2023,” the cricket body said.

PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said he was “delighted to welcome Australia to Pakistan”.

Raja observed that Australia was one of the high-performing cricket teams and playing with them in Pakistan after a gap of 24 years would be a “special treat for the fans”.

The chairman said the tour would also give the Aussies the opportunity to not only play at some of Pakistan’s most iconic venues but also “feel and enjoy the respect, love and hospitality that this great country offers, something which most of their previous generation of cricketers missed out by playing offshore”.

For his part, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley said Australia was “excited” about the prospect of visiting Pakistan and playing a highly anticipated series in a country “so incredibly passionate about the game and their national team”.

“Pakistan is a formidable opposition with an exceptionally talented team, as evidenced by their dynamic performances in the current ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE,” he said.

Hockley thanked the PCB for its efforts to plan the tour and said the Australian cricket board was looking forward to working with the PCB and relevant agencies to “ensure that appropriate and sufficient arrangements are put in place for the tour”.