The Australian cricketer was on his way home on Wednesday after completing his first tour of Pakistan since 1998.
Pat Cummins’ team won the three-Test series 1–0, lost the One Day International 2–1 and completed an incident-free journey with a win in the only Twenty20 International.
AFP Sports highlighted five lessons learned from Pakistan’s first full tour by a top Test-playing nation since the deadly attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009.
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– It is safe to travel –
Australia’s full-strength squad was greeted by a state-style security chief guarding the routes to their hotels and grounds, along with hundreds of policemen and military personnel.
Matches in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore went off without incident and players were able to pull out for a round of golf despite strict COVID protocols.
Pakistan will be hoping that the successful Australian tour paves the way for a comeback for England and New Zealand, as both canceled series in Pakistan last year citing unspecified security concerns.
– Pitches fail the test –
The Test series was poor with flat pitches which offered nothing for the bowlers.
The first match, the Rawalpindi pitch deemed “below average” by the International Cricket Council, saw only 14 wickets fall, as 1,187 runs were scored in a bore draw.
The second Test pitch in Karachi was also slow and low and saw drama only in the final session of the final day when a flurry of wickets hanged Pakistan to a draw.
Then with almost two days of play remaining in Lahore, Cummins’ bold declaration gave Australia victory and earned the series on another calm pitch.
The least batsman-friendly surfaces were created to create more spectacle in white ball games.
Highlights Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq both scored centuries as Pakistan thrilled to keep the series alive in a record ODI run chase of 349 with one over in Lahore.
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– be ready –
Australia were able to compete when they ventured into the unfamiliar territory of Pakistan due to careful research and preparation, which included a detailed study of home match performance.
The result was an Aussie team that was able to cover every incident.
The tourists had variety in their spin and fast bowling options, and there were select experienced batsmen who could adapt to the conditions – including Pakistan-born Usman Khawaja, who was one of the big success stories of the tour.
– Khwaja at home –
Khawaja’s parents were unable to travel to see him play, but their son made him proud as he scored 496 runs at an average of 165.33 and became the highest scorer in the series with two centuries.
It marked a spectacular return to Test cricket for Khawaja, who had not played since 2019 when he was recalled for the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney in January.
He scored a memorable century in each innings at the SCG and his impressive scores of 97, 160, 44 not out, 91 and 104 not out on this tour cemented the 35-year-old’s place at the top of Australia’s order.
– Azam joins the elite –
Pakistan captain Azam was already renowned as one of the world’s finest white-ball batsmen, but he is now the modern-day master of Australia’s Steve Smith, India’s Virat Kohli, England’s Joe Root and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. may be included as appropriate.
“Glad we need to bowl to Babar for a while,” limited-overs captain Aaron Finch said after his team’s 66 in 162-8 in Tuesday’s one-off T20I. Not there.”
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Azam was tall in all three formats, but his 425-ball, 607-minute, career-best 196 to save the second Test in Karachi was an epic one.
Two years after his last Test century, his extraordinary performance was the highest fourth innings total by a captain in history.
The ODI series left no stone unturned as he smashed back-to-back centuries in the last two matches to guide Pakistan to a 2-1 victory in Lahore.
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