Australia kicks off their first overseas test tour in just over two and a half years, when they take on Pakistan in the first Test in Rawalpindi from March 4. This is Australia’s first tour of the Asian country since 1998, although Pakistan has hosted Australia in the UAE for the past two decades. The Aussies will have an uphill task against a rejuvenated Pakistani team, which in recent years has seen the emergence of new stars and talented cricketers and is once again a force to be reckoned with in all formats under the capable leadership of star batter Babar Azam.
Australian captain Pat Cummins spoke to the media before leaving for the tour and pointed out the big factor that the Aussies can face, reverse swing.
“I’m not sure if it’s a competitive advantage, but it’s a reality to play there,” Cummins said.
“A lot of times the ball just swings backwards, and we haven’t really experienced it this summer with grassy wickets and short games where it can be a real weapon there.
“So we’re just trying to improve that.
“We haven’t bowled a lot of reverse swing in the last year, but it’s a huge factor to go to the subcontinent,” the Australian test captain added.
The Aussies have a tight schedule for the tour, but Cummins thinks the team will be fresh and do well if they can replicate similar playing conditions to Pakistan during their pre-tour practice sessions.
“Normally you fly in and have a few weeks in one place, which has its advantages, but also its disadvantages,” Cummins said.
“I think here because we can spend a little more time in Australia, we can fly in, we’ll be fresh and if we can recreate similar conditions to what we’d expect there, we can literally land and in a few days we’ll be there.” ready for the test match.
“We had a spin bowling net today (at the MCG), and we practiced a lot of reverse swing bowling, which can go into that in Pakistan.
“The way you should play spin and face-reverse-swing bowling can be very different from what you might experience in a traditional Australian summer.
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“It’s also kind of fun.
“We see new things and try new things, so it adds an extra element to the training,” Cummins agreed.
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