Australia Officially Appoints Pakistan-Origin Cricketer as Spin Bowling Consultant

Pakistan-origin Australian cricketer, Fawad Ahmed, has been named Australia’s spin-bowling consultant for their historic series against Pakistan.

“Former Australian leg-spinner, Fawad Ahmed, will join the Australian men’s team as a spin consultant for the team’s first visit to his birth country in 24 years,” Cricket Australia said on its official Twitter handle.

Fawad, who represented Australia in five international matches after being granted citizenship in 2013, was part of the Lahore Qalandars’ title-winning campaign in PSL 2022 as a replacement for the ace leg-spinner, Rashid Khan. The 35-year-old will join the visiting team’s security bubble today.

Australia’s Test captain, Pat Cummins, declared Fawad a key for their preparations for the Test series against Pakistan.

“Fawad Ahmed has experience of playing in Pakistan and PSL. He knows pitches in Pakistan well. So, Fawad as a spin consultant will be helpful for Australia,” Cummins said.

The Australian skipper also mentioned that wickets in Pakistan will be tricky and that the Australian players will need to get used to the conditions quickly.

“Australia will not be an 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. It will also help Australia and give them some advantage because they have good bowlers as well,” he added.

Australia is touring Pakistan for the first time in 24 years. The five-week-long tour includes three Test matches as many ODIs and a one-off T20 International. The three Tests will be played in Rawalpindi (4-8 March), Karachi (12-16 March), and Lahore (21-25 March), while all white-ball matches will be played in Rawalpindi between 29 March and 5 April.