Stay up to date with the latest news from the Australian cricket team ahead of the third Test

With the series still on the line, Australia’s cricketers will become the first players to return to Lahore since the 2009 terror attack which drove international cricket away from Pakistan.

Usman Khawaja is set for a massive pay rise. Picture: AFP Images

Test cricket returns to Lahore on Monday for the first time since a terror attack on a visiting team in 2009, with winner takes all for the Pakistan-Australia series finale.

Pakistan’s second-biggest city and its Gaddafi Stadium have not hosted a Test since the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus left six security personnel and two civilians dead.

It drove international cricket away from Pakistan, forcing the home team to play their matches on neutral territory, mostly in the United Arab Emirates.

But Australia are touring the country for the first time since 1998 and the series is on a knife edge after two compelling Tests, both ending in draws.

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Unidentified gunmen fire their weapons during an attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009. Picture: AFP

Pakistan will be high on confidence after snatching a sensational draw in Karachi last time out, with skipper Babar Azam hitting a career-best 196 and vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan 104 not out.

Australia looked to be in control in Karachi but after gaining a big 408-run lead skipper Pat Cummins did not enforce the follow-on and Pakistan left them to toil for 171.4 overs — the second-most played in a fourth innings.

Cummins played down the tiredness factor.

“We know what we’ve signed up for,” he said after the thrilling second Test, which followed a dull first match in Rawalpindi.

Australia's captain Pat Cummins and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam after the drawn second Test in Karachi.. Picture: AFP

“We will put everything in the last Test. We’ve time to recover.” Australia may tinker with their spin attack but pacer Mitchell Starc is likely to play despite a heavy workload.

None of the current Pakistan players has played a Test at the Gaddafi ground, but for the 27-year-old Azam it will be something of a homecoming.

Azam was a ball boy when Pakistan took on South Africa there in 2007 and he was born nearby.

“It’s a special occasion,” said the Lahore native.

“When you play in front of your crowd and they support you, that feeling is so good, I can’t explain it.

Khawaja to become cricket’s new million dollar man

Usman Khawaja’s stunning form surge could reap him a million dollar pay rise and will force Australia to review his potential in all forms of the game.

Khawaja has become the Test match batting success story of the summer with scores of 137, 101, six and 11 against England and 97, 160 and 44 not out in Pakistan.

Last year he was omitted from a 17-man Cricket Australia contract list in the expectation his days as an international cricketer were over but at age 35 he is in the best form of his career.

The selectors will finalise their new contract list in the coming weeks with Khawaja set to gain a new deal.

Contract fees are awarded on a ranking scale where a player’s contribution over the previous summer is assessed as well as his likely contribution for the following season.

Players are ranked in Test and white ball cricket and the final ranking is a combination of both.

Usman Khawaja scored a century in the second Test. Picture: AFP Images

Khawaja is expected to be ranked near the midpoint of the 17-20 man list headed by Pat Cummins who again will be ranked Australia’s No 1 player and duly earn a $2 million-plus deal.

Australia has a heavy duty Test tour of India at the end of the next home summer and Khawaja’s imposing form in Pakistan should ensure he has already been inked in for that assignment.

Khawaja has not been chosen in Australia’s squad for the three match 50 over series against Pakistan which follows the current Test series but his exceptional form could easily prompt the selectors to reconsider him as a white ball player.

Australia is yet to finalise its squad for the T20 World Cup in October and there is a space for a batting swingman.

Australia’s selectors are acutely aware that World Cups are traditionally won by proven big name players and Khawaja has batted as well as any player in the world over the past three months.

Usman Khawaja is set for a massive pay rise. Picture: AFP Images

Khawaja may not fit the classical T20 selection mould because he does not bowl and is not an exceptional fieldsman but is still a formidable T20 batsman.

In 2016 he forced his way into Australia’s T20 World Cup squad as an opening batsman after a spectacular Big Bash.

His nine T20 matches for Australia were all played in 2016 and while his form was not exceptional he did manage to score above 20 in six of his nine innings.

Other players who could improve their position on the contract list include batsman Marnus Labuschagne who was ranked seventh last year and all-rounder Cameron Green who is making steady strides and shapes as a long term Test player.

Travis Head, who was left off this list last season, will win a new deal.

By naming just 17 players when they had the power to name 20 the selectors challenged players like Head to win new deals through their form and the South Australian has responded with a breakthrough domestic summer.

Originally published as Stay up to date with the latest news from the Australian cricket team ahead of the third Test