MELBOURNE: The first contingent of the Pakistan white-ball squad carried out an extensive training session here on Thursday for the first ODI against Australia, scheduled to be played on 4 November at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The first group, which includes Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, and Faisal Akram, arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday and participated in the rigorous practice of batting, bowling, and fielding today.
Meanwhile, the second group included white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan, his deputy Salman Ali Agha, alongside Abdullah Shafique, Aamir Jamal, Saim Ayub, Kamran Ghulam, Haseebullah and Arafat Minhas.
They arrived in Australia on Wednesday evening and rested on Thursday. The entire Pakistan squad will train together at the MCG on Friday.
The Australia tour will run from 4-18 November, followed by a white-ball series in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, which will be played from 24 November to 5 December.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squads for the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe on Sunday.
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The cricket board also appointed wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan as the captain for Pakistan’s white-ball team ahead of the upcoming tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.
Key players like Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who were rested from the last two Tests against England, retained their place in the white-ball squads for the Australia matches but will be rested for the Zimbabwe tour.
Similarly, Mohammad Rizwan will be available for the Australia tour and Zimbabwe ODIs but will be rested from the Zimbabwe T20Is.
All-rounder Salman Ali Agha, who has been appointed as the vice-captain, will lead the team in Rizwan’s absence during the T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Tour
ODI SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (vc) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
T20I SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.
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