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Pakistan will make a trip Down Under later in the year to take on Australia for the Benaud-Qadir Trophy. The three Tests – part of the third World Test Championship cycle – will be played at Perth, Melbourne and Sydney in December and January.
Immediately after the 2023 ICC World Cup, Australia’s men’s team will remain in India for a bilateral white-ball series before returning home to begin their Test campaign (against Pakistan in Perth) from December 14, ensuring a different look to the Test schedule.
It will be the latest start to a men’s Test summer of five or more matches since the 1924-25 Ashes battle that kicked off at the SCG on December 19, 1924.
In the lead-up to the series, Pakistan will play a four-day warm-up to acclimatise to the conditions Down Under.
This will be Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s third Test tour of Australia. The prolific stroke-maker previously landed on the Australian soil in December 2016, under Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy, and November 2019, when Azhar Ali was the captain of the side.
The right-hander has 278 runs – including a century – in five Tests. On the 2019 tour, Babar scored a century in the second innings in the first Test in Brisbane and followed it up with a 97 at Adelaide.
Naseem Shah made his Pakistan debut at Brisbane in November 2019 and since has evolved as mainstay in Pakistan’s bowling line-up across all formats. The right-arm speedster has 80 wickets in 42 matches.
Pakistan last toured Australia for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and finished as the finalists.
The Benaud-Qadir Trophy was launched in 2022 when Australia arrived in Pakistan after 16 years for a three-Test series. Pat Cummin’s side bagged the first iteration as they bagged the series 1-0 after defeating Pakistan in Lahore in the third and final Test. Schedule
1st Test – December 14-18: Perth Stadium
2nd Test – December 26-30: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
3rd Test – January 3-7: Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)