WHO: Australia vs Pakistan
What: Three-match International T20 series
When: November 14, 16 and 18
Where: Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart
Follow Al Jazeera’s live text and photo coverage of the first T20.

Pakistan arrived in Australia for their limited-overs tour following a tumultuous period off the field, which saw the departure of Gary Kirsten as the team’s white-ball coach and the change in leadership of the team.

The highly regarded South African coach resigned after a series of behind-the-scenes changes and a power struggle with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Jason Gillespie, the coach of the Pakistan Test team, took charge of the team for the tour of Australia and Mohammad Rizwan was named the country’s white-ball captain following the resignation of Babar Azam.

Despite off-field turmoil and a historically poor record in Australia, Pakistan managed to stun the world champions in the one-day international series, winning it 2-1, thanks to the excellent performance of their fast bowlers.

It was Pakistan’s first win in the ODI series since 2002.

The crushing win in the series has given the visitors an edge ahead of the three-match international T20 series, which begins on Thursday.

Star player Babar seems to have found his lost form and looked in great form as he hit Pakistan’s winning runs in the third ODI, while captain Rizwan’s on-field tactics have been near-perfect so far.

Haris Rauf led Pakistan’s four-man fast bowling attack with 10 wickets in three matches as Pakistan dominated a weakened Australian side that had one eye on the upcoming Test series against India.

Regardless of the composition of the Australian team, Pakistan’s rapid turnaround is – given recent events – as stunning as it is unsurprising to the cricket faithful.

Nevertheless, the visitors are still capable of transforming from world beaters in one format to a terrible outfit in the other, and Australia will want to seize every opportunity that comes their way.

The hosts, who failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup semi-finals in June, are undergoing a T20 transition of their own and will be led by interim captain Josh Inglis.

Australia will be without their star bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – all of whom are rested ahead of the Test series.

What is the full match schedule of Australia vs Pakistan T20 series?

• Match 1: Thursday, November 14, 6:00 PM (08:00 GMT) at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
• Match 2: Saturday, November 16, 7:00 PM (08:00 GMT) at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
• Match 3: Monday 18 November, 7pm (08:00 GMT) at Bellerive Oval, Hobart

Pakistan vs Australia: T20 head-to-head record

The visitors hold a narrow lead in their 25 meetings with the 2021 T20 world champions, having won 13 matches – including a one-over eliminator in 2012.

However, Australia have turned recent results in their favor by winning four of their five matches, including the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final in Dubai.

One match, in a bilateral series in 2019, was abandoned due to a drop-out.

Form Guide: Australia

Despite failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Australia managed to bounce back and win all three of their T20 matches during their tour of Scotland.

A few days later, Australia played their bilateral T20 series against England with each side winning a match each.

Last five results: NR LWWW

Form Guide: Pakistan

Although Pakistan won their last two group stage matches at the T20 World Cup, the men in green endured a dreadful campaign in which they suffered a shock loss to debut hosts the USA and the 2009 champions failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2016 reaches. .

Pakistan have not played a T20 international since the World Cup in the US and West Indies, but their victory in the ODI series will give the visitors a much-needed boost of confidence ahead of the T20s.

Last five results: LLLWW

Team news: Australia

Australia have rested several key members of their Test squad, giving a number of T20 performers a run including Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett and Jake Fraser-McGurk.

All-rounder Cooper Connolly, who broke his hand while batting against Pakistan in the third ODI, will miss the T20 series and has been replaced by Josh Philippe.

Selection: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Philippe, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Team news: Pakistan

Pakistan’s difficult five months since its ignominious exit from the T20 World Cup have resulted in a number of leadership and personnel changes across the squads.

Their T20 team has a number of lesser known and uncapped players including Arafat Minhas, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Omair bin Yousuf and Sufyan Moqim.

Selection: Mohammad Rizwan (captain, wicketkeeper), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.