Melbourne
\nAustralian Test skipper Pat Cummins said on Friday his team were \u201ccomfortable\u201d with security arrangements and excited by what lies ahead, as Australia prepare to jet into Pakistan on their first tour since 1998.
\nThey are due to leave over the weekend ahead of the first of three Tests in Rawalpindi on March 4 \u2014 giving them less than a week to acclimatise and without any warm-up matches.
\nIt will be followed by Tests in Karachi and Lahore before three ODIs and a single Twenty20, all in Rawalpindi.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got to a place where everyone hopping on the plane is comfortable with where it\u2019s all sitting. It\u2019s been a really thorough body of work that the security and the logistics teams have worked through,\u201d Cummins said.
\n\u201cAnd obviously the added layer of bio-security in these times as well. So we\u2019re feeling really good and once we get over there, we\u2019re going to be able to just concentrate on the cricket.
\n\u201cMore than anything it\u2019s a really special tour,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re going to fly over there and experience something for the first time. We\u2019re really excited, everyone is in a good place.\u201d
\nCricket-mad Pakistan endured a long spell without a visit from an international team following a terror attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan side in Lahore in 2009.
\nPakistan were forced to play home international matches abroad \u2014 mostly in the United Arab Emirates \u2014 until 2015, when normal service tentatively resumed.
\nBut concerns surfaced again last year when New Zealand quit their first tour to the country in 18 years shortly before the opening match was due to start following a security alert.
\nAustralia head into the series on the back of a 4-0 Ashes thumping of England over the home summer, with the starting XI for Rawalpindi expected to be much the same.
\nUsman Khawaja \u2014 who was born in Pakistan \u2014 is set to partner David Warner at the top of the order ahead of Marcus Harris, who was dropped during the Ashes.
\nCummins confirmed Steve Smith had recovered from a concussion during their recent Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka and will retain his place.
\nOtherwise, the side is set to mirror the one that faced England in the fifth Test last month \u2014 with Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Starc providing pace and Nathan Lyon spin.
\nBalanced side
\nHowever, interim coach Andrew McDonald \u2014 in charge after Justin Langer quit after the Ashes \u2014 admitted there had been \u201ceducated guesses\u201d of how the pitches would play with two extra spinners in Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar also in the squad.
\n\u201cSo we\u2019re covering all bases there, from turning wickets to potentially wickets with grass on (them),\u201d he said.
\n\u201cBut we feel the squad\u2019s balanced and there\u2019s enough options for whatever the case may be when we land on the ground.\u201d
\nThe squad has spent the past few days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground preparing, with a spin net set up and the pacemen practising reverse swing, both of which will likely be a factor on the sub-continent.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t really know what to expect over there, sub-continent Test matches can be played slowly or quickly,\u201d said Cummins.
\n\u201cFor a lot of this group, we haven\u2019t played a lot of cricket overseas but if we want to be number one in the world we have got to have a really good showing on these sub-continent tours.\u201d
\nAustralia Test squad: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
\nAustralia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Melbourne Australian Test skipper Pat Cummins said on Friday his team were \u201ccomfortable\u201d with security arrangements and excited by what lies ahead, as Australia prepare to jet into Pakistan on their first tour since 1998. They are due to leave over the weekend ahead of the first of three Tests in Rawalpindi on March 4 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[423,20,1354],"class_list":{"0":"post-246440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-pakistan","10":"tag-security"},"yoast_head":"\n