Australia is on their tour to Pakistan after 24 years, and it will be one of the historic tours for both nations. Earlier to that, Australia played a bilateral series in Pakistan way back in 1998. And the tour will start with three test matches starting on March 4. The Pat Cummins-led test team reached Pakistan on Sunday.
The Australian team reached Islamabad airport, and the Pakistan government was very keen to welcome the Aussies. Around 4,000 police and military officers were available around the hotel and the stadium. Pakistan has given high-level security to the Australian team. And talking about the security arrangements, Australian skipper Pat Cummins also expressed how safe it is to be in Pakistan. There was a little speculation about the security issue before the tour.
“We feel incredibly safe” – Pat Cummins
Speaking to the media (AEDT) on Sunday, skipper Cummins spoke about the security arrangements provided to them. He stated that the arrangements are of high quality and that the team feels completely safe. The pacer also pointed out the setup at the hotel, which is near the stadium. He also expressed that they are lucky enough to be looked after by so many professionals.
Adding to that, he also stated biosecurity was also another concern, but everything was fine heading into the test series. In the last two decades, Pakistan has been struggling to host any international series with any high-ranked team.
Praising the cricket fans in Pakistan, Cummins said Pakistan is a great cricket playing nation, but due to some unfortunate events, they were not able to host any big tournaments. However, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh have visited Pakistan for bilateral series in recent times. And most importantly, the PSL has been successful over the years, which is one of the reasons for promoting more cricket in the country.
Need to be relentless on the overseas tour as well
This year, Australia will be touring Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India for the test series. And the momentum they had from the Ashes series—Skipper also talked about that. Cummins said that the 4-0 win against England was superb and now the team would like to do well and win series overseas as well. Cummins concluded, “We feel lucky to get to come back in Pakistan after a whole generation didn’t get the chance to play any cricket over here.”