Pakistan's tour of Australia started on a poor note as players were seen loading their luggage in a truck at the airport by themselves after landing Down Under on Friday. Shan Masood-led side departed from Lahore for Sydney on Thursday. In a video going viral on X. wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan and pacer Mohammad Wasim were seen helping teammates load their kit bags and other suitcases in a truck.

Netizens expressed their disappointment over the mismanagement and absence of officials from Cricket Australia to welcome them at the airport.

After landing in Sydney, Pakistan travelled to Australia's capital Canberra. Pakistan are set to play three Tests in Australia, starting on December 14 in Perth. Men in Green are eyeing their first-ever Test series win against Aussies on their home soil.

After the ODI World Cup debacle in India, Babar Azam stepped down from Pakistan's captain and Masood succeeded him in the Test leadership role.

It will be Masood's first assignment as Pakistan Test captain and that too in a series which is part of the World Test Championship (WTC). Currently, Pakistan are placed at the top spot after outclassing Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series while India and Australia grab the second and third places respectively.

In the pre-departure press conference, Masood said he is happy to have multiple former captains in the side to make his job easy on the field.

"We are looking it as a challenge especially how this series can help our WTC campaign. Whenever I have captained before, there have been past captains in the team. I take that as a positive thing as they make your job easier, in my opinion. We don’t have just one leader in the team," he said.

"Previously, when I captained Multan Sultans, I had players like Moeen Ali who had captaincy experience. As far as the current team is concerned, players like Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam all have leadership experience, which means there is a lot more insight at offer, especially on the field. We can only grow as a team when we all play as leaders and contribute where we can best as per the requirements of Pakistan team," Masood added.

Pakistan squad for Australia Tests: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.


Also In News