LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has congratulated the Pakistan national cricket team on their recent ODI series win against Australia, while asking them to focus on long-term stability and major ICC events.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, Azhar praised the team’s overall display, highlighting several inspiring individual and collective performances in the series.
However, he stressed that Pakistan’s real challenge lies in translating bilateral success into major competitive programmes.
“Series win, congratulations Pakistan. Lots of encouraging performances throughout the series, but big challenge still lies ahead,” Azhar wrote.
He further stressed the need for careful long-term planning with ICC World Cup preparations in mind, urging selectors and team management to prioritize continuity and strategic clarity.
“We have continued to prove that we can compete in bilateral cricket, but the real test will be translating that success to ICC tournaments. The World Cup will be a priority in every selection and scheduling decision moving forward,” he added.
Pakistan won their third consecutive ODI series against Australia with this win. The Men in Green first won 2-1 at home in 2022, repeating the same scoreline in Australia in 2025.
Australia were bowled out for 157 runs in 42 overs by Pakistan to wrap up the series with a hard-fought win in a low-scoring match. The performance was led by a fine bowling display led by Shaheen Shah Afridi along with Pakistan’s spin attack.
Australian captain Josh Inglis scored a top score of 65 off 71 balls with 8 fours and a six. Marnus Labusagne and Alex Carey added 19 runs each, but the visitors could not produce a substantial score.
Shaheen Shah Afridi returned impressive figures of 3/30 in eight overs, with Abrar Ahmed and Shatab Khan picking up two wickets each. Haris Raoob also contributed a wicket.
In reply, the Pakistan team reached the target by losing 6 wickets in 41.5 overs. Abdul Samad and Shatab Khan guided the side home with a composed partnership.
Although Babar Azam played a relatively slow innings, he top scored for Pakistan with 40 off 84 balls with 3 fours. Mas Sadaq scored 27 runs off 26 balls with 5 fours.
Abdul Samad remained unbeaten on 18 off 30 balls while Shatab Khan scored a valuable 29 off 42 balls including 2 fours.
For Australia, Matthew Kuhneman was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/38 in 10 overs. Nathan Ellis, Matthew Short and Matt Renshaw took one wicket each.
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