Shaheen Hails Minhas And Ghori After Pakistan Beat Australia in ODI Series Opener

Pakistan ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi praised young players Arafat Minhas and Ghazi Ghori after beating Australia in the first ODI at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

In the opening match, Shaheen won the toss and chose to bowl first on a slow pitch in Rawalpindi. The move worked well, as Minhas picked up five wickets to help restrict Australia to just 200 runs in 44.1 overs.

Pakistan then made the chase look easy, reaching the 201-run target with five wickets down and 45 balls left. The win was built around solid half-centuries from Babar Azam and Ghazi Ghori, who also put together a strong 127-run stand for the third wicket.

Talking about the match, Shaheen said the decision to bowl first came from what they had seen in a practice game at the same ground. In that game, the ball came nicely onto the bat, while the slow pitch also helped the spinners.

"Our plan was to bowl first. Had played a practice match earlier, and the ball was coming on nicely in the evening, and we knew there would be a lot of assistance for the spinners, and the spinners delivered," said Shaheen Shah Afridi after the match.

Minhas followed up his five-wicket performance with an unbeaten 18, as he finished the game in style by hitting Marnus Labuschagne for a straight six. He was named Player of the Match for his all-round effort on his ODI debut, and his captain also appreciated his performance.

Meanwhile, Shaheen also praised Ghazi Ghori for his calm half-century on a difficult pitch. He called him the future of Pakistan cricket, as he can play both pace and spin bowling confidently by adjusting his gameplans.

"I am very happy for Arafat Minhas. I saw his father was so elated for him; it made me remember my own debut, and it was great to see him perform," said Shaheen Shah Afridi.

"Ghazi Ghori did well against Bangladesh. He is a great player against both spin and pace, so the future of Pakistan looks bright." concluded Shaheen Shah Afridi.