Pakistan, South Africa set to lock horns in all-format series

DURBAN
Pakistan and South Africa are all set to face each other in an all-format series for the first time since 2019, which will begin with the first of three T20Is on Tuesday at the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban.
The second and third T20Is are scheduled to take place on December 13 and 14 at the SuperSport Park, Centurion and The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, respectively.
The three ODIs will take place on December 17, 19 and 22 followed by the Centurion Test on December 26 and Cape Town Test on January 3.
The white-ball squad, captained by Mohammad Rizwan, reached Durban on Friday and has taken part in two training sessions, stated a press released issued on Monday.
Pakistan’s T20I squad, which was announced on December 4, has seen the return of star batter Babar Azam, pacer Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who missed the recently-concluded Zimbabwe series.
The squad also includes left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem, who took five wickets for just three runs in the second T20 international against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
In a statement, Rizwan said: “We have been on the road since last month and this is our third successive overseas tour, which has made the unit more proactive in terms of the preparations and getting used to the local conditions as soon as possible.”
“The return of Babar, Naseem and Shaheen to the white-ball squads is a welcome development for the team and with a fine blend of youth and experience, we look forward to do our best against South Africa in this T20I series before the focus shifts to the other two formats,” he added.
Speaking of the South African conditions, the skipper said, the wickets would challenge the team but at the same time, the pacers would benefit from the conditions. “We are eager to continue the winning momentum from the last tour against Zimbabwe.”
Pakistan are coming off a white-ball tour of Zimbabwe, where they won both the one-day and T20 series. Before that, they were in Australia where they lost all three T20 matches but won a one-day series 2-1.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Test team were on the field against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha, and a separate group of players were in Pretoria preparing for the T20 series.
The T20 squad, captained by Heinrich Klaasen, flew to Durban on Sunday where the first T20 international will be played on Tuesday — the day after South Africa wrapped up a Test win in Gqeberha.