After 22 years

Under Rizwan's captaincy, Pakistan defeated Australia 2-1 in a historic ODI series on Australian soil.

The change in captaincy seems to have worked. Team Pakistan, under the new white-ball skipper Muhammad Rizwan, crushed the mighty Australians - that too in Australia itself - in the three-match ODI series that ended this past Sunday.

Beating the hosts 2-1, the Green Shirts finally broke a drought of winning an ODI series on the Australian soil that persisted for no less than 22 long years. While the Rizwan Men went down fighting in the first one-dayer, they outclassed the kangaroos in the remaining two games.

Much of the credit of the historic win goes to the Pakistan pace quartet of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain that bowled out the whole Australian team in two of the three games and sent eight batters to the pavilion in one.

This may also have been a sort of record - at least in away games - if statisticians could just give it a thought. And while Pakistan's batting has long been a weak link, this time around the batters made sure the hardwork of the bowlers does not go to waste.

All of Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, skipper Rizwan and Babar Azam were among the runs. For his part, Rizwan was brilliant behind the stumps too, equaling the record of taking most number of catches - six - in a one-day game.

The argument that Pakistan's performance has much to do with a new-look Australian team currently in a rebuilding phase has little weight if at all. Beating any Australian outfit in Australia is a memorable feat.

Let's not take the credit away from what now looks like a rejuvenated unit under a hardworking, flamboyant player in the lead role. And let's buck up the boys as they take up the next assignment - the three-match T20I series against the same tough opponent under the same grueling conditions.