Amid the speculations, Cricket Australia (CA) on Friday (February 4) confirmed that its men’s cricket team will tour Pakistan for three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I in March-April.

It will be a historic tour as the Australian team will visit Pakistan for the first time since 1998.

Taking to Twitter, CA wrote: “Our Aussie men are headed to Pakistan. It will be the first time our Australian men's team have toured Pakistan since 1998!”, before sharing the schedule and confirming that the squads will be announced in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also released a fresh itinerary for the tour, which will run from March 4 to April 5.

“The tour will now start and end in Rawalpindi with the opening Test to be played from 4-8 March and the four white-ball matches to be played from 29 March to 5 April,” PCB’s official release stated.

“The change in the first Test venue means that the second Test will be played in Karachi from 12-16 March and the third in Lahore from 21-25 March,” it added.

The schedule has been revised to ease logistical and operational challenges as well as to avoid Pakistan Day rehearsals, which usually commence in Islamabad in the second week of March.

The two cricket boards have also agreed that the Australia Test side will complete their isolation in Australia, before arriving in Islamabad on 27 February on a chartered flight. After a one-day room isolation, they will hold training sessions at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Revised schedule:

4-8 Mar – 1st Test, Rawalpindi

12-16 Mar – 2nd Test, Karachi

21-25 Mar – 3rd Test, Lahore

29 Mar – 1st ODI, Rawalpindi

31 Mar – 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi

2 April – 3rd ODI, Rawalpindi

5 Apr – one-off T20I, Rawalpindi