Australia are all set to take on Pakistan in the first of the three-match Test series starting on December 14 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Ahead of the series opener, a video of the Pakistan players loading their luggage in a truck surfaced on social media and instantly went viral. The clipping was following the team’s arrival in Australia and fans had blamed the officials and the management for such plight of the international athletes.

However, in a statement, Pakistan’s left-arm speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi has now revealed why exactly the Pakistan players including Babar Azam were seen loading the luggage. He disclosed that the ideas was to help each other in order to save time.

A stark absence of official representation from the Pakistan embassy or Australia to welcome Pakistani players at the airport
Players left to load luggage on their own.
Raises questions about the value and recognition of #Pakistan in the world. 🇵🇰pic.twitter.com/fjYzxyYj4e

— NewsFreak 2.0 (@_peacekeeper2) December 1, 2023

“We only had 30 minutes to catch our next flight and we helped because there were just two people. We wanted to wrap it up fast and to save time,” Shaheen told reporters at the Manuka Oval.

Major Changes In Pakistan Setup

Meanwhile, Pakistan had an underwhelming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign. While they had entered the tournement as among the top ranked sides in the ODI format, they failed to secure a place for themselves in the semifinals following which the team has gone through major changes both on and off the field. Babar Azam stepped down as the captain of the side across formats which was followed by the Pakistan firing the management that was responsible for their World Cup debacle.

After their team’s opening Test in Perth, the Men in Green will travel to Melbourne and Sydney for the second and the third Test matches respectively. The Test match will be David Warner’s final series in the longest format of the game but while  Afridi has wished him luck, he also said that they are here to try and make sure the Aussie opener is not able to end his career on a high.