Pakistan cricket team has already reached Australia and played a warmup game at Canberra. Now the team have reached Perth for the first Game.
New Delhi: Pakistan cricket team director Mohammad Hafeez lashed out on Cricket Australia for their arrangements as a hosting nation for the 3 Test match series which is scheduled to start from December 14 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Pakistan cricket team has already reached Australia and played a warmup game at Canberra. Now the team have reached Perth for the first Game.
While having the conversation with reporters at WACA Stadium, Hafeez revealed that Canberra’s pitch is the slowest pitch a visiting team could ever play on in Australia.
“That was the slowest pitch a visiting team could ever play on in Australia,” he said. “As a team we are really happy with our preparations because we ticked most of the boxes.
“Everyone knew [the pitch wasn’t what we wanted], so there was no point of saying it again and again and raising the issue with Cricket Australia. The disappointment was really high because we weren’t expecting these kinds of arrangements. Maybe it’s tactical but we’re ready for it. We’re not using it as an excuse, we’re absolutely ready for the challenges coming up.”
Shan Masood is leading the Pakistan Cricket team after Babar Azam’s retirement from captaincy. In the recently concluded Warmup game the captain slammed an unbeaten 201 runs. He was the only Pakistan batter who scored more than 50 runs.
“For me, seeing Shan become captain is no surprise” Hafeez said. “He was always ready for this role, and when you get this sort of opportunity, it shines. He’s a superb player, and as a leader, he’s got a great rapport with the players and a great relationship with the whole team. His experience as a captain and what he’s learned over the years – especially the couple of years he’s played county cricket – have all seen his management skills have come to the fore even more. What’s important is this is a confident unit that’s here and Shan is playing his role very well.
Hafeez believes that this Pakistan team is very settled and they will beat Australia in the upcoming Test.
“This Test team is very settled. They’ve all done a great job for Pakistan cricket. Everyone is excited to take the challenge. Performing in Australia would be great for them. We are here to beat Australia, not just to compete.
“As a team, we believe we have great talent within the team who can win in Australia. The guys are really hungry to perform in Australia. They wanted to take that excitement and challenge in the right spirit. The message the team conveyed is they want to beat Australia this time.”