Pakistan cricket team is in Canberra to practice for their upcoming first-class match against the Australian Prime Minister XI at the Manuka Oval from December 6 to 9, but their first training session was interrupted by a hailstorm on Sunday.
The Pakistani team led by newly-appointed skipper Shan Masood held its first practice session in Canberra but they couldn’t complete it due to a hailstorm.
The training session was cancelled by the team’s management after which the players trained in an indoor session.
According to BBC weather, light rain showers are expected in Canberra tonight and from Thursday (December 7), light to moderate rain is expected in the city until Sunday (December 10).
There is a chance that the first-class match between the Green Shirts and PM XI will be interrupted by rain.
Earlier today, Australia announced their 14-man squad for the first Test match of the three-match home series against Pakistan which will be led by World Cup 2023-winning skipper Pat Cummins.
Pakistan have already announced their 18-man squad to take on Cummins’ men to register their first Test match win in Down Under in nearly three decades.
This is also Pakistan’s first Test tour to Australia since 2019 when they were battered 2-0 as the Green Shirts, under Azhar Ali’s captaincy, lost both games by an innings.
Australia squad: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Cameron Green, Lance Morris
Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Australia tour schedule:
Four-day match: PM’s XI vs Pakistan – December 6-9: Manuka Oval, Canberra
1st Test – Australia vs Pakistan – December 14-18: Perth Stadium
2nd Test – Australia vs Pakistan – December 26-30: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
3rd Test – Australia vs Pakistan – January 3-7: Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
