National T20 grows in importance as Pakistan prepare for Australia tour

Pakistan’s Twenty20 International (T20I) side is expected to arrive in Sydney on October 26, while the players who will be part of the national Test side are expected to arrive in the first week of November.

The Men in Green will not participate in conditioning camps before the upcoming series; however the players will play three practice matches inorder to prepare for the five-week series.

After the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka, all players have been instructed to participate in National T20 tournament which is scheduled to start on October 13 in Faisalabad. The final match of the tournament will be played on October 24.

The head coach-cum- chief selector of Pakistan, Misbahul Haq has clarified that the top performers of the National T20 tournament will be selected for the tour of Australia.

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Poor performances of batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal could lead to a comeback for veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who is currently enjoying a purple patch in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL). However, the selection of veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez will depend on his performance in the upcoming National T20 tournament.

According to sources, Pakistan is scheduled to play a T20 practice match in Sydney on October 30. The first T20I between Pakistan and Australia has been scheduled for November 3 at Sydney, the second T20I has been scheduled for November 5 at Canberra, while the third T20I has been scheduled for November 8 at Perth.

Pakistan and Australia will then face off in a two-match International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship fixture which is expected to start on November 21. The players will have the opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions through a two-day and a three-day warm-up match before the Test match.

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The second Test is scheduled to start on November 29 at the Adelaide Oval. The match will be a day-night fixture and, hence, will be played with a pink ball.

Pakistan last toured Australia, under the leadership of Misbah, in a series that was played in December 2016 to January 2017. The Men in Green were whitewashed by Australia in a three-nil series defeat.