Australia flew into Pakistan yesterday for their first cricket tour in nearly a quarter of a century – and into a high-security bubble that will envelop them throughout their six-week stay.
Senior batsman Steve Smith posted a picture on Twitter of the 35-strong Australia tour party inside their charter flight’s cabin after it touched down in the Pakistan capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan have struggled to attract visiting sides since a fatal terror attack on the visiting Sri Lanka team’s bus in 2009. Australia pulled out of a tour five years earlier after a suicide blast at a Lahore church.
They last played in Pakistan in 1998, winning the three-Test series 1-0 and blanking the hosts in the three one-day internationals.
Having been forced to play their home games abroad – mostly in the United Arab Emirates – Pakistan appeared to have reassured international cricket authorities last year with both New Zealand and England scheduled to tour.
But the Black Caps hastily departed in September just minutes before their first match was due to start, citing security fears, and England postponed tours by both their men’s and women’s teams soon after. The decisions incensed Pakistan cricket authorities, who felt they had done everything possible to ensure safety and security.
They say they are again leaving nothing to chance, with nearly 4,000 police and military personnel guarding the team hotel in Islamabad and the cricket stadium in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi. Australia captain Pat Cummins said he was reassured by the high-level security, the sort normally reserved for visiting heads of state.
“I feel incredibly safe,” Cummins, on his first overseas tour since taking over the Test captaincy, told a virtual news conference. “We’ve been really well looked after by the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board). Upon arrival there’s been lots of security. We were straight off the plane and straight to the hotel. We’ve got a pretty good set-up here and we’ll be confined to the hotel except for games and training.”
The 28-year-old ruled out any apprehensions among his teammates and said they were focused on the tour featuring three Tests, an equal number of one-dayers and a solitary Twenty20 International.
“It’s comforting and we’re really lucky to be surrounded by so many professionals,” Cummins said. “There’s lots of things around which might be a little bit different to what we’re used to but we know it’s been taken care of so we can just really enjoy ourselves here...
“Pakistan is an incredible cricket nation. We feel lucky to get to come back here after a whole generation didn’t get the chance to play any cricket over here.”
Cummins oversaw Australia’s 4-1 Ashes romp against England in his first series in charge and the speedster was confident they could be as assertive against Babar Azam’s side.
“I really hope so. I was really proud of how we performed throughout the Ashes summer back home in Australia, and now that’s the challenge to continue that and be just as relentless on an overseas tour.”
Meanwhile Pakistan yesterday suffered a significant setback when pace bowler Hasan Ali and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf were ruled out of the first Test against Australia through injuries.
Hasan has a muscle strain and Ashraf an injured hamstring and will miss the Test starting in Rawalpindi from Friday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said spinning allrounder Iftikhar Ahmed and fast bowler Mohamed Wasim Junior will replace the injured duo.
PCB hoped Hasan and Ashraf would regain fitness ahead of the second Test in Karachi starting from March 12. The third and final Test is in Lahore from March 21.
PAKISTAN TEST SQUAD:
Babar Azam (captain), Mohamed Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohamed Wasim Junior, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.
Australian Test captain Pat Cummins is all smiles on his arrival in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday. Australia will play three Tests and a similar number of ODIs besides a T20 international on their first tour to Pakistan in over 24 years.
