ISLAMABAD: Australia flew into Pakistan on Sunday for their first cricket tour in 24 years — and into a high-security bubble that will envelop them throughout their six-week stay.

Senior batsman Steve Smith posted a picture on Twitter of the 35-strong Australia tour party inside their charter flight’s cabin after it touched down in the Pakistan capital.

Top teams have shunned Pakistan since gunmen attacked a visiting Sri Lanka team in Lahore in 2009 and a heavy security dragnet has been thrown around Australia’s tour.

Australia last toured to Pakistan in 1998 when they won the Test series 1-0 while also winning all the matches in the limited-overs series.

Pakistan has hosted Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and South Africa over the last six years, but Australia is the first high-profile team that will be touring Pakistan for a fully-fledged bilateral series.

Last year both New Zealand and England pulled out of limited-overs tours to Pakistan due to security concerns. New Zealand abandoned their tour just hours before the toss for the first ODI in Rawalpindi, which is due to host the first Test against Australia beginning March 4. The Pakistan Cricket Board has labelled 2022 a bumper year with New Zealand and England also due to tour Pakistan later this year.

Karachi will host the second Australia Test from March 12-16 followed by the third Test at Lahore from March 21-25. Rawalpindi will host the ODI series from March 29 before Australia rounds off its tour with a Twenty20 on April 5.

Security teams from Australia visited Pakistan last year to assess the security arrangements in the three cities before the tour was given the approval by Cricket Australia.

Nearly 4,000 police and military personnel are guarding the team hotel in Islamabad and the cricket stadium in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins said he was reassured by the high-level security, the sort normally reserved for visiting heads of state.

“It’s comforting,” Cummins, on his first overseas tour since taking over the captaincy, told a virtual news conference after being whisked to the team’s Islamabad hotel in a heavily-guarded convoy. “We are really lucky to be surrounded by so many professionals.

“We’ve been really well looked after by the PCB. Absolutely feel incredibly safe. Upon arrival there’s been lots of security. We were straight off the plane and straight to the hotel.”

A spokesman for Pakistan’s interior ministry said “such arrangements are only made for high-level foreign delegations, [and] the president and prime minister of Pakistan,”

Roads will be blocked off when the Australians make the 15-kilometre (11-mile) commute to the stadium from the capital, with their team bus to be shadowed by army helicopters.

Snipers will be positioned on buildings surrounding the stadium, while nearby shops and offices have been ordered to close on match days, the interior ministry said.

Similar arrangements will be in place for matches in Karachi and Lahore.

The Australians will isolate themselves in their rooms for 24 hours while waiting for results of Covid tests, before intense training begins Monday ahead of the first Test.

“We will be pretty much confined to the hotel but we have travelled to India and places like that a lot where you probably don’t leave the hotel too much, so we are used to it,” said the 28-year-old Cummins, ruling out any apprehensions among his team-mates.

“There’s lots of things around which might be a little bit different to what we’re used to but we know it’s been taken care of so we can just really enjoy ourselves here ... there are no distractions other than the cricket.”

More than half Pakistan’s 220 million people were not even born the last time Australia toured — the median age is 22.8 — but stadiums are expected to be packed as the country emerges relatively unscathed from the Omicron stage of the Covid epidemic.

Cummins welcomed the return of international cricket to Pakistan.

“Pakistan is an incredible cricket nation. We feel lucky to get to come back here after a whole generation didn’t get the chance to play any cricket over here.

“Whenever we come over to play in the subcontinent, the fans are just so different to Australia that they’re loud, they’re really passionate, and I’m sure Pakistan’s going to be no different.

“It’s the first test matches between the two countries over here in 20-odd years, so it’s a special moment. We feel privileged as players.”

Cummins oversaw Australia’s 4-1 Ashes romp against England in his first series in charge and the speedster was confident they could be as assertive against Babar Azam’s side.

“I really hope so. I was really proud of how we performed throughout the Ashes summer back home in Australia, and now that’s the challenge to continue that and be just as relentless on an overseas tour.”

The tourists have roped in Pakistani-born former Australian international Fawad Ahmed as a spin bowling consultant to boost their preparation.

“He’s got a wealth of experience here and he knows the venues quite well and he’s always great fun for the group,” Cummins said.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2022