Pakistan say Australia ‘best’ World Cup preparation

Pakistan take on Australia in a three-match Twenty20 international series starting in Lahore from Thursday, despite doubts over their participation in next month’s World Cup in cricket’s shortest format.

The country’s cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi will announce a final decision on taking part in the mega event either on Friday or Monday.

Pakistan are protesting over last week’s decision by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which rejected Bangladesh’s demand to relocate their matches out of India over security fears.

Bangladesh are replaced by Scotland in the 20-team event, which runs from February 7 to March 8 with Sri Lanka as co-hosts.

However, despite the doubts, the Pakistan team was preparing for the World Cup with skipper Salman Agha stressing the importance of the Australia series.

“These three games will give us an idea how prepared we are for the World Cup,” Agha told a news conference on Wednesday. “Australia is a top team and will give us the best final preparations.”

Pakistan are placed in Group A alongside defending world champions India, the United States, Namibia and the Netherlands.

Pakistan’s spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to full fitness after injuring his knee in the Big Bash League in Australia this month.

“We need to see how many boxes we tick in the series which are important for the World Cup as we aim to do well and win the Cup,” Agha said.

A 17-member Australian squad led by Mitchell Marsh arrived in Lahore early on Wednesday, with the last two matches set for January 31 and February 1.

The Australians are without the injured quartet of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis, while allrounder Glenn Maxwell was rested to manage workload.

Marsh still believes Australia were ready for the World Cup tune-up series.

“These are very important times in both teams’ preparations for the World Cup,” said Marsh, whose team will be in Group B with Sri Lanka, Oman, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

“This is a very important series as the conditions are similar and that is against a quality side, so we will assess the situation and be clear about our plans ahead.”