Matthew Short Confident Australia Can Handle Pakistan’s Spin Threat

Australia's top order batter Matthew Short is confident that his team can tackle the spin threat of Pakistan in the upcoming ODI matches. He believes Australian batters have the capability to put Pakistan under pressure if they adapt and play according to the conditions.

Australia are set to tour Pakistan again for an ODI series, which will be their second visit to the country this year. Earlier in January–February, they played a three-match T20I series as part of their build-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 but were beaten 3-0.

In that T20I series, Pakistan’s spinners made a big impact. Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, and Saim Ayub all finished among the top five wicket-takers and together picked up 20 wickets across the three matches.

Referring to the result of the previous series, Short admitted it was very disappointing, but said that Australia are now prepared to confront spin conditions with better planning.

"When we look back at the last T20 series we had here before the World Cup, I think those were in preparation of the World Cup, what we had seen in Sri Lanka, we had some pretty tough conditions there, so I'm not 100 per cent sure what they're going to produce for us here," said Matthew Short while talking to the reporters.

"But if it's anything like that, we are prepared. It was a bit of a disappointing three-game series for us before the World Cup there. But if we are to face those conditions again, we're ready for them, and we're certainly preparing for them," added Matthew Short.

The upcoming ODI series between Pakistan vs Australia will be their first meeting since Pakistan beat Australia 2-1 in November 2024.

Short, who was part of that Australian squad, admitted that Pakistan have done well against them in white-ball cricket recently. Still, he said Australia are keen to make things right this time and are certainly in the hunt.

"Yeah, absolutely. Anytime you play against an opposition, you want to win. Pakistan have had it over us the last couple of series, so we're certainly in the hunt for a winner and a series win. I know there's been a lot of talk around a lot of test crew coming up for Australia, but we really want to make sure we win these white-ball series here and there." said Matthew Short.