Pakistan to play 3 ODIs, 3 T20s against Australia

Karachi - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to play a series of three one-day internationals and an equal number of Twenty20 matches against Australia in August-September, but the venues for the matches will be decided in the next few days, a senior PCB official has said.

"Since now we are playing three Twenty20 matches, we don't require any special permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC)," a PCB spokesman said.

He added that a decision on whether the matches would take place in Malaysia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would be taken within the next two or three days.

There were reports that Pakistan and Australia could approach the ICC to allow them to play a series of five Twenty20 Internationals, The Daily Times reports.

The spokesman explained that since it had been decided to play the series immediately after Ramazan ends, both the teams have space to play six matches. Initially, Pakistan had planned five ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals.

Pakistan has been forced to host the series against Australia at a neutral venue after the Australians refused to tour Pakistan due to security concerns.

Australia has not played in Pakistan since 1998 due to security concerns.

Pakistan had earlier sent a request to the ICC to allow them to host a series of seven Twenty20 internationals against Australia, but cricket's governing body rejected the move, asking the PCB to take their proposal to the ICC chief executives meeting.

As per ICC regulations, a maximum of three Twenty20 internationals are allowed in a bilateral series.