[Watch] Australian players and their families receive gifts from Pakistan contingent at MCG ahead of Boxing Day Test
Pakistan players and support staff members gave gifts and extended Christmas wishes to Australian players and their families on Monday (December 25).
The Pat Cummins-led side won the first Test between the two teams in Perth and currently leads the 3-match series by 1-0. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the second Test beginning tomorrow. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Australian players spent some time with their family members at the MCG.
Pakistan contingent also visited the stadium at the same time and went on to extend Christmas greetings. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took to their official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday and shared a video to give everyone a glimpse of it. They captioned the post with:
"Warm wishes and heartfelt gifts for the Australian players and their families at the MCG indoor nets."
"We want to give players ample opportunity to buy into the way we want to play" - Pakistan captain Shan Masood ahead of 2nd Test vs Australia
At a press conference ahead of the second Test against Australia, Pakistan skipper Shan Masood shed light on learnings from the loss of the first Test in Perth.
He opened up that his teammates need some time to buy into the brand of cricket the team management wants them to play in Test cricket against top-quality opponents.
Masood said:
"One Test is never a fair assessment. You need time. You need a bit more time. You've already got a squad that's been playing Test cricket for a while. You have to look at the domestic structure and the players available for red-ball cricket. You need players to buy in."
He continued:
"We want to give players ample opportunity to buy into the way we want to play. There are some things that we've said from the outside that we want to play a more attractive brand of Test cricket. We did that in Sri Lanka. We got some results as well. The challenge now is to do it against the best teams in world cricket."
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