Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez misses flight to Sydney ahead of third Test against Australia
Jan 01, 2024
Sydney [Australia], January 1 : Team director Mohammad Hafeez missed his flight to Sydney for Pakistan's final Test series clash against Australia, according to Geo News.
Australia gained an unassailable lead of 2-0 following their second consecutive triumph in the three-match series against the Asian Giants.
According to Geo News sources, Hafeez was travelling with his wife and was supposed to travel to Sydney with the Pakistan team but he missed the flight at the airport.
The former Pakistan player arrived late at the airport after which the staff did not allow him and his wife to board the plane. Hafeez and his wife took another flight to Sydney hours later.
Pakistan is likely to hand Saim Ayub his debut cap and he could make his place in the team in place of Imam-ul-Haq.
The Geo News source also revealed that the workload of vice-captain Shaheen Shah Afridi could be reduced and he is likely to bowl less overs in the final Test of the series.
The left-arm pacer has bowled 99.2 overs in the series which is more than any player in both teams.
The fate of the series could have been left hanging as Pakistan came close to winning the second Test but ended up falling short at the end.
Pakistan stood in pole position to emerge triumphant when they were 219 for 5 and needed 98 runs for a series-levelling victory as the match seemed poised to be a cliffhanger.
But Australia skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc bowled a remarkable fast bowling spell as they took the host to a second consecutive triumph with a 79-run victory.
After the game, Hafeez who was emotionally charged declared that Pakistan were better and said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo, "We played better cricket as a team. I'm proud of that. The way the team had the courage to attack this game in the best possible way. If I sum up the game, the Pakistan team played better than the other team in general. Our batting intent was better, and while bowling, we were hitting the right areas. Yes, we made some mistakes that cost us the game but as a team, I believe that there were a lot of positives, enough to win the game but unfortunately, at the end, we didn't win the game."
Pakistan will now look to win their first Test game on Australian soil since 1995 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on January 3.
