South Africa arrive in Pakistan for historic tour

3 years AGO
South Africa
South Africa, who are ranked above Pakistan in both ICC Test rankings as well as the World Test Championship, are set to play their first-ever Test series in Pakistan since 2007

The South African cricket team arrived in Karachi, Pakistan, for a historic tour on Saturday in a chartered flight which they took from Johannesburg. The South African team is set to play a Test series comprising two matches in Pakistan for the first time since 2007 as the affair is set to be the final assignments for the two teams in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). 

South Africa are currently ranked fifth in the world in Test cricket whereas Pakistan have some work to do as they are placed at seventh. 

While there is a difference of standings as far as ICC Test rankings are concerned for the two teams, there is not much of a difference as they are placed close to each other in the points table for WTC. South Africa are at fifth spot with 40% of their points earned while Pakistan are sixth with 30.7% of points earned as per the new system. 

South Africa will play two Test matches and three T20 internationals on their tour of Pakistan which starts on January 26. The first Test will be played in Karachi from January 26-30 whereas the second Test will be at Rawalpindi from February 4-8. The three T20 internationals will be played on February 11, 13 and 14 at Lahore. 

Pakistan is witnessing a steep rise in return of top international teams to its cricketing grounds as England are also set to play a few T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup next year. The England women’s team have already confirmed their tour to Pakistan which is a huge news as far as women’s cricket in Pakistan is concerned. 

Squads: 

Pakistan Test squad: Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Yasir Shah, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tabish Khan. 

South Africa Test squad: Quinton de Kock (c), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Kagiso Rabada, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Kyle Verreynne, Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde, Daryn Dupavillon, Ottniel Baartman.

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