Fawad to join Australian tour party as spin consultant

Pakistan-born former Australian leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed will act as a much-needed spin consultant for his adopted nation's first visit to his birth country in 24 years after accepting a last-minute approach to join the touring party.

Fawad, who is already in Pakistan with the Lahore Qalandars as a replacement player for Afghanistan superstar Rashid Khan, will link up with the Australian squad after the PSL final, which his side won overnight, beating Multan Sultans by 42 runs.

The 40-year-old's appointment for the historic tour comes as a welcome boost for the visitors who are without regular subcontinent spin consultant Sridharan Sriram for the three-Test series and white-ball fixtures, which begins on Friday in Rawalpindi.

The right-armer will also act as a net bowler for the Aussies, although given the host's two main spinners are of the finger variety, this may not prove as useful.

India-born Sriram, who played eight one-day internationals between 2000 and 2004 and has worked with Australian spinners on Asian tours since 2016, was unable to secure a visa for the Pakistan tour.

Australia also reportedly approached New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori for the spinning consultant role for the much-anticipated series but a deal was unable to be reached in time.

Fawad, who has represented Australia in three one-day internationals and two T20 matches – the last of those in 2013 – fled his birth country 12 years ago to seek asylum after being persecuted for helping educate women in his local area.

The veteran leg-spinner, who still tours the globe on the domestic T20 circuit boasts 10 matches of first-class experience in Pakistan before seeking asylum in Australia, where he was granted citizenship in 2013.

He has also regularly returned to the subcontinent nation since 2019 for the PSL tournament, and has represented three franchises across 23 matches, which includes 2-26 in his latest outing in Lahore last Monday.

The 18-player Australian squad arrived in Islamabad about midday on Sunday Australian time and captain Pat Cummins said they couldn’t wait to bring 'Fuzzy' into the mix.

"He's got a wealth of experience here in Pakistan, he knows the venues quite well so it's going to be really helpful," Cummins told reporters from the team hotel shortly after touching down.

"Having another pair of hands around training is always great fun."

While Cummins wasn't sure exactly of the arrangements, it's expected Fawad would need to observe some sort of bio-security protocols before linking up with the tourists.

Despite the short lead in to the first Test, which starts less than five days after arriving, Cummins said the squad felt "really well suited" and is feeling fresh.

"We thought we could achieve a lot of it back home, so we had a really good week in Melbourne, some really good specific sessions," he said.

"I think it actually rained here in Islamabad the last three or four days, luckily, we probably got more work in at home than if we were coming here early.

"We had spinning wickets in Melbourne, we had reverse swing bowling sessions, we feel really well suited, one quick flight and we're here and feeling fresh so it's perhaps not as long as some other tours but four good days of training and we'll be right (to go)."

Fawad told Pakistan's Geo News last week that he didn’t think the pitches prepared during the series would be dustbowls.

"It's not going to be ragging, it's not going to be spinning big, especially Rawalpindi and Lahore … Pakistan will support their own fast bowlers," he said.

"It's going to be a very good contest … 'Pindi is definitely going to suit the Australians, and I think Karachi and Lahore is going to suit Pakistan's combinations."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood. Reserves: Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Haris

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), 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 (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), 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

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: Only T20I, Rawalpindi

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports