Picture Credit: PCB
While the Australian cricket team is set to create history as the team will tour Pakistan after 24-long years, the visitors will be missing out on a few star players from their squad from the white-ball series. Veteran players like David Warner, Test skipper Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell are all set to skip the limited-overs series against Pakistan in order to participate in the Indian Premier League.
Responding to the development, Australia's former cricketer Matthew Hayden has slammed the senior players for skipping national duties and prioritizing India's franchise tournament. Reportedly, Hayden was quoted saying that players should be punished for missing the national team duty and should not be paid. "When players don't care for the national team, it is a big flag of concern", said the former Australian opener. He stated that he feels that the players should not pick when to play for the national team and when not to.
Adding further, he said that the importance of the IPL is known but the players should be held accountable for not featuring in the national team and thus, should not be paid for what they have not done. The Australian team is likely to land in Pakistan towards the end of the week or the beginning of the new week.
The Australia tour of Pakistan will consist of 3 Test matches and as many ODI matches. It will also include a T20I to conclude the series. The series kicks off on March 4, with the first of the three scheduled Test matches taking place at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The ODI series will commence on March 29, while the T20I match will be played on April 5.
Notably, the 10-team Indian Premier League 2022 will kick off on March 26, and the final will be played on May 29.