The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to provide opportunities to some of their young players for the third and final T20I of the three-match series against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. The visitors have already signed the series victories with an unbeatable lead of 0-2 margin, thanks to their ten wicket-victory in the previous contest.
Both the Pakistan openers chased down the low score of 61 inside the powerplay with ten wickets in hand, having bundled out the Zimbabwe side for just 57 in 12.4 overs, shouldering on the incredible bowling figure of 5/3 in 2.4 overs by youngster Sufiyan Muqeem.
The aggressive left-handed opener, Saim Ayub, had a fantastic time in the middle in both games, with 36 and 24-run knocks in 18 deliveries. He has been given a break for the dead rubber, as the management has handed the debut cap to their young right-handed batter, Sahibzada Farhan, who has notched up just 82 T20I runs in eight innings so far, having made his debut six years ago.
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The wicket-keeper batter of the side, Usman Khan, didn’t get a chance to show his batting skills in the previous encounter but enjoyed a grilling 39-run knock in 30 balls in the opening fixture of the series. In the same contest, Tayyab Tahir remained unbeaten on 39 runs in 25 balls, with the help of four boundaries and one six to push Pakistan to 165/4 in their allotted 20 overs.
Pakistan calls back youngsters for dead rubber; Harris Rauf and Saim Ayub rested
One of the exciting members of the Green Brigade, Qasim Akram, has always been hailed highly among the circuit of Pakistan. In the three T20Is, the 22-year-old was part of during the 2023 Asian Games, he picked up three wickets at an economy rate of six and an average of below eight.
Akram has also been a huge contributor with the bat and ball for any side in the shortest format of the game. He has claimed 26 scalps in 34 innings at an average of 23.57 and an economy rate of around 7.34 with a strike rate of 19.2.
The 19-year-old left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas, has also been rewarded a place in the T20I side after his early appearance in last year’s Asian Games 2023. He picked up four wickets in three innings at an average of 11.25 and a strike rate of 12, with the best bowling figure of 2/11.
Harris Rauf has been given rest for the last T20I of the series, as Pakistan has called back their right-arm fast bowler, Mohammad Hasnain, for the third T20I. The 24-year-old has featured in 26 T20I innings, where he has picked up 25 wickets at an average of 34.12 an economy rate of 8.44, and a strike rate of 24.2 with the best of 3/37.
When it comes to the T20 record, the Hyderabad-born has claimed 135 wickets in 112 innings at an average of 26.58 a strike rate of around 18, and an economy rate of just under nine.
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Pakistan will be inching to close the series on a high with a 0-3 whitewash before they push their attention to the upcoming three-match T20I series in South Africa. With the kind of performance they had in the recent T20 World Cup 2024 in the United States of America, where they were knocked out from the group stage, the display of youngsters starting to take responsibility is positive news.
Pakistan Playing XI For 3rd T20I vs Zimbabwe
Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan (wk.), Salman Ali Agha (captain), Tayyab Tahir, Qasim Akram, Arafat Minhas, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Sufyan Moqim.