Pak cricket team leaves for Australia

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team Saturday left for Australia early morning for a tour of T20 games against Aussies. Security at the Lahore airport was heightened for their departure.

The green shirts, captained by Babar Azam, will hold their first practice match against the hosts on October 30.

Pakistan will be without senior stalwarts Shoaib Malik and M Hafeez, who were not selected for the tour. It will play three T20Is in Sydney (November 3), Canberra (November 5) and Perth (November 8) and two Tests in Brisbane (November 21 to 25) and Adelaide (November 29 to December 03). The T20 series will be followed by two match Test rubber, one of which will be played under lights.

Babar Azam, who replaced Sarfraz Ahmed, admitted on Friday that his team will face a stern test during the Tour Down under, but vowed his players will go for victory. “Every tour is tough and Australia is always a challenging place because of the extra bounce, but we will go for wins as we always do,” said Babar Azam who has become Pakistan’s youngest T20I captain at 25.

Azam, the number one batsman in Twenty20 rankings, said he feels honored to have the chance to lead his country, 12 years after he entered a stadium as a ball picker. “I am proud that now I am the skipper,” he said.First Tests is in Brisbane (Nov 21-25) and second at Adelaide (Nov 29-Dec 03).