Full-strength Australia tour to benefit Pakistan: Fawad Ahmed

• Fawad Ahmed was born in Marghuz, a village in Swabi district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
• The 40-year-old spinner is currently in Pakistan to represent Lahore Qalandars in remainders of PSL. 
• Fawad Ahmed hailed Pakistan’s bowling attack.

LAHORE: Australia’s Pakistan-born cricketer Fawad Ahmed feels that a full-strength tour by the Australian team to Pakistan is not only good for Pakistan but it will also benefit the game when seen from a broader perspective.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News, the KP born player who has represented Australia in 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is revealed that Australian players did speak to him about the security situation and cricketing arrangements in Pakistan.

Fawad was born in Marghuz, a village in Swabi district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He later moved to Australia for a better future in sports.

The 40-year-old spinner is currently in Pakistan to represent Lahore Qalandars in remainders of PSL as a replacement to Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.

“I am grateful to be back in Pakistan and looking forward to playing my part for my team. I did well in BBL and looking forward to continuing doing well here,” he said.

Talking about Australia’s tour to Pakistan which is scheduled next month and the team set to arrive later this month, Fawad said that he’s excited to know that a full-strength Australian team will be touring Pakistan.

“When I was in Big Bash, everyone was asking a lot of questions about the security and conditions like how the ball would behave, how the pitch would be, so I shared information in a good way and convinced them as well, I also spoke to CA and other officials too, and tried my best on my side to convince them, especially about security,” he mentioned,

“I explained it that the security in Pakistan will make you feel as secure as anywhere in the world. Security here will be very tight,” he said when asked what did he tell to his teammates in Australia about the security.

He added that Australia’s arrival to Pakistan is not only good for Pakistan Cricket but also a good sign for global cricket and that’s something he also shared with his colleagues in Australia.

“This is a really good thing for Pakistan and even for cricket. When I was talking to the people back home, the team members or from the support staff or the people in Cricket Australia, I would say, I requested them so let's do it then for the game itself. Let's do it for cricket,” he mentioned.

“So, hopefully, this would be a revival of Test cricket in Pakistan in the proper way because this is going to be first officially a proper team visiting. I know South Africa did as well but a proper team like everyone's going to be playing and Inshallah I think is going to be one of the biggest series in many, many years,” said the Australian spinner.

Fawad Ahmed added that it is important to find ways to how make the Australian team very comfy here and the PCB must provide them with a relaxing environment here so that they can also cope with bubble fatigue and when they go back, they go back with good memories.

Replying to a question, the cricketer said that Pakistan vs Australia will be a very tough series and the series is equally important for both teams.

“I think Australia will not be easy sail for Pakistan, it will be a tough competition, Pakistan’s strength looks fast bowling now and one expects that Pakistan will prepare wickets that support fast bowlers, and if they produce such wickets then it will also help to Australia and give them some advantage because they’ve good bowlers as well and they enjoy too,” he said.

He hailed Pakistan’s bowling attack and said that Pakistani bowlers can take 20 wickets in 5 days which is very important to win a Test match.

Talking about cricket in Pakistan, Fawad suggested that it is now important to have stadiums with more capacity. He said that stadiums in Karachi have the capacity of 25k to 30k which needs to be increased.

“Imagine if 50,000 or 60,000 people are sitting and cheering for their teams at the same venue,” he highlighted.

Talking about his stint with Lahore Qalandars in PSL, the Australian cricketer hoped to add another T20 franchise tournament title to his name.

“Qalandars are looking in good shape and the best thing about the team is that everyone is making a contribution which is important in such competitions to win the tournament,” he mentioned.