Pakistan to play a two-day practice match ahead of second Test against Australia

To improve their skills and address concerns about match readiness, the Pakistan cricket team have added a two-day practice game against Victoria XI to their schedule. The game, which will be held at Melbourne's Junction Oval on December 22 and 23, was not originally planned but was included after Pakistan's loss in the first Test against Australia.

The decision to add an extra practice match was made due to concerns about the lack of match practice. Unlike the four-day match against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra, this upcoming game will not have first-class status, allowing Pakistan to test more than 11 players.

"That [the Victoria tour game] was something extra we added into the schedule because it wasn't there earlier. We wanted to have more practice rather than only one practice game. That had first-class status, so we couldn't give all the bowlers the chance to have a feel. That's the reason we wanted to have this practice game, so more guys could get a feel of a match scenario; we felt that would work well," Pakistan team's director Hafeez said with regard to the importance of practice game as per ESPN Cricinfo.

We will definitely plan accordingly. All the players should use those two days to make themselves more familiar with the situations and the conditions," Hafeez added.

This game was not part of tour, I wanted our players to have match-scenario style practice: Mohammad Hafeez

Notably, the Victoria XI will be led by Peter Handscomb and will include key players such as Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski. The match will give Pakistan's players the chance to adapt to the different playing conditions of Australia. Although the pitch conditions have been a point of contention for Pakistan during the tour, particularly after their match against the Prime Minister's XI, Hafeez expressed optimism about the upcoming practice match. 

"The conditions we get fall under Cricket Australia's domain. We have requested similar conditions to the Test match so that our players can take advantage of these conditions. This game was not part of the tour but I wanted our players to have match-scenario style practice. We're grateful to CA for accepting our request and providing this facility. We will try to learn from this in the most effective possible way," he added.

The second Test between Pakistan and Australia is set to begin on December 26. The additional practice game is seen as a strategic move to better prepare the team for the challenges ahead in the series.