Pak vs Aus: Australia appoint Fawad Khan as spin consultant for Pakistan tour

ISLAMABAD: The Australian cricket team has appointed former spinner Fawad Ahmed as "spin consultant" for the Pakistan tour, it emerged today.

Cricket Australia (CA) in a statement said that the former leg-spinner will join the men's team as a spin consultant for the Australian team's first visit to his birth country in 24 hours.

"Fresh off winning the PSL Final with Lahore Qalandars, Fuzzy will be back in Aussie colours for the upcoming Qantas tour of Pakistan!" the CA added.

The Aussies have arrived in the country on Sunday on the historic tour during which they would play three Tests, the same number of ODIs and one T20 in the six-week tour.

The visitors are preparing for turning pitches and have been training to counter Pakistan’s spin attack.

The 40-year-old's appointment for the tour comes as a welcome boost for the visitors who are without regular subcontinent spin consultant Sridharan Sriram.

According to cricket.com.au, Fawad Ahmed will also act as a net bowler for the Aussies, although given the host's two main spinners are of the finger variety, this may not prove as useful.

“India-born Sriram, who played eight one-day internationals between 2000 and 2004 and has worked with Australian spinners on Asian tours since 2016, was unable to secure a visa for the Pakistan tour,” the report said.

The report stated that Australia also reportedly approached New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori for the spinning consultant role for the much-anticipated series but a deal was unable to be reached in time.