One of the busiest 18-month stretches Australian cricket has ever had begins this weekend in Pakistan with a white-ball tour that also encompasses Bangladesh.
The Australian men have been warming up in Islamabad but head to Lahore for the series opener ahead of nine white-ball matches in just a little more than three weeks.
Teenager Ollie Peake and allrounder Liam Scott and in line to make their international debuts against Pakistan in a squad that is missing some of the biggest names as selectors try and balance the workload with at least 20 Tests on the horizon.
Pakistan v Australia schedule
May 30: First ODI, Rawalpindi Stadium, 9:30pm AEST
June 2: Second ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST
June 4: Third ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST
The entire schedule for this winter white-ball tour of South East Asia, including matches in Bangladesh, can be found at the very bottom of this article.
How to watch?
All series from Pakistan and Bangladesh will be broadcast on Foxtel and Kayo Sports. You can sign up to Kayo Sports here.
The squads
Australia squad: Josh Inglis (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa
None of ‘Big three’ quartet of fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, are making the trip to Pakistan or Bangladesh with a looming heavy workload in Test cricket prioritised for them.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald said all three wanted to play, but were told to rest given Australia will play 20 Tests (21 if they make the World Test Championship final) in a 12-month stretch from mid-August.
Mitch Marsh has been ruled out of the Pakistan leg of the tour with an ankle injury picked up in the IPL, meaning fellow Western Australian Josh Inglis will captain the side for the three ODIs. Cooper Connolly, fresh from his breakout campaign in the IPL, has been added to the squad for the Pakistan leg, having orginally have been slated to join only in Bangladesh (with an expectation his IPL side may have still been involved in this weekend’s finals).
Victoria’s teen sensation Ollie Peake and South Australian allrounder Liam Scott are in line to make their international debuts on this leg of the tour.
Both have been included for the Pakistan ODIs only before the likes of Travis Head join the squad in Bangladesh after their stints at the IPL.
Big bad bustling Billy Stanlake is also in line for an international return in Pakistan, but is another that has been included only for that leg of the tour with Xavier Bartlett to come in for the Bangladesh leg.
Pakistan: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Sufyan Moqim
Pakistan have recalled Babar Azam and named three uncapped players for the series, with Shaheen Shah Afridi to lead the group.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rohail Nazir, fast bowler Ahmed Daniyal and allrounder Arafat Minhas have played handful of T20 internationals but have been selected for the 50-over format for the first time.
Nazir and Ghazi Ghori are the two options to keep wicket after Usman Khan was not considered for selection due to illness.
Babar’s back in the mix after being left out of the team that lost their previous ODI series in Bangladesh 2-1 in March. Joining him back in the fold are experienced players Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan, while the squad is without regular white-ball keys Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub who have both been ruled out with injury.
Local knowledge
Rapid Stats
Pakistan have won their past two men’s ODI series against Australia, but lost seven series in a row before that.
Pakistan have won eight of their last nine men’s ODI series at home, including each of their past three. Their only series defeat at home in that span was a 1-2 loss against New Zealand in January 2023.
Australia defeated India 2-1 in their most recent men’s ODI series (October 2025) after losing three prior series prior to that.
Pakistan are undefeated in their past eight men’s ODIs at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium – their longest unbeaten run at the venue in the history of the format; their last defeat there was a seven-wicket loss against India in February 2006.
Australia won just one of their four ODI matches played away from home in 2025. They lost all five on the road in 2018, and were 1-7 away from home in 2017.
Game 1 of the series will be Pakistan’s 1,000th men’s ODI; they will be the third team to reach the milestone in the format after India (1,075) and Australia (1,019). Sri Lanka are the next closest side with 943 matches.
Salman Agha (Pakistan) has scored 422 runs at an average of 70.3 across his past eight ODI innings, and hit 106 in his last hit. But his last match against Australia (in November 2024) saw him make only 12.
Milestone Watch
Adam Zampa is four wickets away from becoming the seventh Australian male to take 200 ODI wickets. He went wicketless last time out in the format (25 October 2025 v India) after taking 16 wickets across his eight innings prior. Zampa is also seven away from 350 career wickets in international cricket.
Babar Azam (20) is one away from surpassing Saeed Anwar (20) for the outright most 100+ scores for Pakistan in men’s ODIs. Babar has a batting average of 68.6 against Australia – his second-best against any team he’s faced more than once – and has three career centuries against the Aussies.M
Marnus Labuschagne is 129 away from reaching 2,000 runs for Australia in men’s ODIs.
Alex Carey is 155 away from reaching 5,000 career runs for Australia in all international cricket.
Josh Inglis is 50 away from reaching 2,000 runs for Australia in all international cricket.
Matthew Renshaw is 128 runs away from reaching 1,000 runs in international cricket.
Qantas Tour of Pakistan & Bangladesh 2026
Australia squad for Pakistan ODIs: Josh Inglis (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa
Pakistan squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Sufyan Moqim
May 30: First ODI, Rawalpindi Stadium, 9:30pm AEST
June 2: Second ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST
June 4: Third ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST
Australia squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa
June 9: First ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST
June 11: Second ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST
June 14: Third ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST
Australia squad for Bangladesh T20Is: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
June 17: First T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 19: Second T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
All matches exclusive on Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket
