Babar Azam, former Pakistan captain, turned out to be the savior of Shaheen Afridi after the pacer suffered a severe injury to his thumb on his bowling hand during the third and final ODI between Australia and Pakistan in Perth.
Pakistan began the series with a two-wicket loss in a closely contested match in Melbourne. The squad responded with a comprehensive nine-wicket win in the second game to tie the ODI series. The visiting squad then faced Australia in the series decider on Sunday, November 10.
Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and chose to unleash his pace quartet of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, and Naseem Shah on Australian batters who were depleted due to absence of key players and were led by Josh Inglis.
Pakistani pacers Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, and Mohammad Hasnain exploited the Perth wicket’s pace and bounce to upset Australia’s batting.
Shaheen and Naseem each got three wickets, Rauf one, and Hasnain one, as Australia was bowled out for 140 runs. Only Sean Abbott (30) and Matthew Short (22) scored more than 20 runs, while Coope Connelly retired hurt.
Babar Azam helps out Shaheen Afridi after he suffered a thumb injury
In the 26th over of Australia’s innings, Sean Abbott smacked a Shaheen ball deep midwicket. As the fielder launched a hard, flat throw on the bounce, Shaheen tried to catch it at the non-striker’s end, but it grazed his left thumb.
Shaheen appeared to be in pain as he shook his hand moments after being hit. Babar then stepped in, tugging the bowler’s thumb to soothe his discomfort.
The pundits feared a dislocation, but Babar Azam put pressure on Shaheen’s thumb until the physio arrived. The physio then ruled out dislocation and used the magic spray to assist Shaheen Afridi.
Here is the video:
Dr Babar is on the case! 👨⚕️#AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/FupHfqon3p
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 10, 2024
Shaheen completed the over despite taking a blow on his thumb. The left-arm pacer also continued his spell without any discomfort.
Pakistan create history, by winning an ODI bilateral series in Australia for the first time since 2002
In response, Saim Ayub scored 42 and Abdullah Shafique 37 before falling to Lance Morris. But then Babar Azam (28*) and Mohammad Rizwan (30*) ensured that Pakistan easily met the 141-run chase with 8 wickets in hand.
With this victory, Pakistan won their first ODI series in Australia since 2002. Haris Rauf was chosen Player of the Match and also Player of the Series.