Pak vs Aus: PCB likely to announce Test squad this week for Australia series

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is expected to announce the Test squad for the upcoming home series against Australia this week, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

According to sources, former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is likely to lead the green side as head coach for the home series against Australia, despite being giving his resignation as interim head coach, while the name of the team management will be announced with the test squad as well.

The training camp for the preparations of the much-awaited cricket series is expected to start from February 16 in Rawalpindi, the sources said.

On the other hand, Cricket Australia has announced an 18 member test squad for its first Pakistan tour in almost 24 years on Tuesday, starting on March four in Rawalpindi.

Australia to tour Pakistan for the first time in 24 years

The PCB had earlier announced the details of Australia's first tour of Pakistan since November, 1998. The tour will take place in March and April 2022 and will include three Tests, three One-Day Internationals, and one Twenty20 International.

Karachi (3-7 March), Rawalpindi (12-16 March), and Lahore (21-25 March) will host the Tests, while Lahore will host the four white-ball matches from 29 March to 5 April.

The Tests will be part of the ICC World Test Championship, while the ODIs will be part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, a 13-team competition from which the top seven teams and hosts India will qualify directly for the 2023 event.