Rawalpindi: Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi hailed youngsters Arafat Minhas and Gazi Ghori after their five-wicket victory over Australia in the first ODI of the three-match home series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
In the series opener that marked Pakistan’s 1000th ODI, captain Shaheen won the toss and elected to bowl first on a slow Rawalpindi surface, and the decision paid off as Minhas took 5 wickets.
In turn, Pakistan easily chased down the target of 201 runs with 5 wickets and 45 balls remaining, aided by half-centuries from Babar Azam and Ghori who scored 127 runs for the third wicket.
Reflecting on his team’s performance in the landmark ODI, Shaheen revealed that their plan to bat first was inspired by one of their practice games on the ground, during which the ball came well into the bat, while the spinners got significant help from the slow surface.
“Our plan was to bowl first. We played a practice match earlier and the ball came well in the evening and we knew the spinners would have a lot of help and the spinners delivered,” Shaheen said.
Minhas, who backed up his five-wicket haul with an unbeaten 18 off 17 balls, hit Marnes Lapuzagne for a straight six to seal the winning run in fitting fashion.
Shaheen praised Ghori for his sensible half-century on the tricky surface, hailing him as a “great player” with both spin and pace before saying Pakistan’s future was bright.
“I am very happy for Arafat Minhas. I saw his father was very happy for him; it reminded me of my own debut and it was great to see him perform,” said Shaheen.
“Kazi Ghori did well against Bangladesh. He is good against both spin and pace, so the future is bright for Pakistan.”