The Pakistani team will practise against Victoria XI for two days prior to the Boxing Day Test match against Australia on December 22 and 23. Pakistan was destroyed by Australia’s comprehensive performance, and the Asian Giants ultimately lost by an overwhelming 360 runs. This match was originally not scheduled as part of the tour, but according to ESPNcricinfo, Pakistan requested that it be played because of worries about their players’ lack of preparation.
Since this is not a first-class match, the Pakistani team will have the chance to try out more than 11 players. It won’t be like a four-day Test match against the Prime Minister’s XI. “We added the Victoria tour game to the schedule as an extra because it wasn’t there before. Rather than just one practice game, we wanted to have more. According to ESPNcricinfo, Pakistan’s head coach Mohammad Hafeez stated, “We couldn’t give all the bowlers the chance to have a feel because that had first-class status.”
“We thought it would be beneficial to have this practice match so more guys could experience what it’s like in a match. Without a doubt, we’ll make the appropriate plans. Hafeez continued, “All the players should take advantage of those two days to acquaint themselves with the circumstances and the surroundings.” Hafeez further disclosed that they requested that Cricket Australia create a surface that closely resembles the playing field for the Test match.
The conditions that we receive are under the purview of Cricket Australia. To ensure that our players can benefit from these circumstances, we have asked for conditions that are comparable to those of the Test match. Although this game was not included in the tour, I wanted our players to practise in a manner similar to that of a match. We appreciate CA granting our request and making this facility available. We’ll work to apply what we can to learn from this as much as possible,” Hafeez declared. Melbourne will host the second Test match on December 26. Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, and David Warner are the members of the Australian squad.
