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Australia’s answer to Arafat Minhas doesn’t exist yet. Two ODIs, seven wickets at an average of 8.43, and every dismissed batter has been right-handed. The template is brutally simple: angle the ball into the right-hander from over the wicket, let it straighten, and wait. Australia’s middle order has had no counter for it across 20 combined overs. The 3rd ODI at Gaddafi Stadium on June 4 gives them one final chance to work something out, and the options are narrower than the scorecards suggest.
Seven wickets in two ODIs. Series economy of 2.95. Series average of 8.43. Those are not numbers you typically associate with a left-arm spinner in 50-over cricket against a Test-quality batting line-up, and yet that’s Arafat Minhas’s record against Australia through the first two matches of this series. He took 5/32 in Rawalpindi on debut, the first Pakistan bowler to claim an ODI five-for in their first match. Then he moved to Lahore and delivered 2/27 from 10 overs on a harder, more batter-friendly surface. Four maidens across the series. Forty-three dot balls. He’s strangling run rates and generating pressure that costs Australia wickets elsewhere.
The dismissal log is the most revealing data point of this series. In Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s spinners took eight of ten Australian wickets on a dry, low surface. In Lahore, Minhas had Josh Inglis bowled through the gate in the 27th over, and Marnus Labuschagne caught off Agha Salman’s hands in the 11th. Both right-handers. Every confirmed Minhas wicket in this series has been a right-handed batter. His stock delivery from over the wicket angles into the body, then straightens into the off stump or finds the outside edge. Right-handers get squared up. The shot selection deteriorates. The dismissals follow.
| Bowler | Team | Series Wkts | Economy | Average | Dismissal Method |
| Arafat Minhas | PAK | 7 | 2.95 | 8.43 | Bowled (2), Caught (3), Stumped (1), LBW (1) |
| Shaheen Afridi | PAK | 3* | 4.50* | 12.00* | Bowled (2), Caught (1) — 2nd ODI confirmed |
| Abrar Ahmed | PAK | 3* | 3.40* | 11.33* | Bowled (1), Caught (2) — 2nd ODI confirmed |
| Adam Zampa | AUS | 1 | 3.33 | 30.00 | Bowled (1) — 2nd ODI |
| Matt Kuhnemann | AUS | 1 | 4.10 | 41.00 | Caught (1) — 2nd ODI |
| Matt Short | AUS | 3 | 4.50 | 12.00 | Bowled (2), Caught (1) — 2nd ODI |
His control across two different surfaces is what sets him apart from the rest of Pakistan’s attack. Shaheen Afridi is genuinely dangerous, having had Alex Carey bowled off the very first ball of the 2nd ODI before finishing with 3 wickets, but his economy of 4.50 tells a different story than Minhas’s 2.95. Abrar Ahmed took two wickets at 3.40 economy on the harder Lahore track. Minhas bowled at 2.70 on that same surface. The gap isn’t marginal; it’s structural. He has built a consistent wicket-taking model across contrasting conditions, and Australia’s batters haven’t disrupted it once.
The most credible tactical option available to Josh Inglis, captaining Australia after Mitchell Marsh was ruled out injured, is Cooper Connolly. Connolly bats left-handed, bowls left-arm orthodox, and already has Australia’s best ODI figures by a spinner this year: 5/22 against South Africa in August 2025, the youngest Australian to take an ODI five-for. His career-best score is 61 against India in Sydney in October 2025. Against Minhas, his left-hand batting stance restructures the entire delivery equation. The ball that squares up right-handers turns away from Connolly, converting a wicket-taking line into a harmless one. Pakistan’s counter is to bowl Minhas over the wicket, but that adjustment removes his most dangerous angle and gives Connolly width to drive.
The venue does favour batters. Gaddafi Stadium’s average first innings ODI score is 258, and Australia themselves chased down 356/5 against England here during the 2025 Champions Trophy. The 2nd ODI surface at the same ground was recorded as normal in grass cover, moisture, and quality, which explains the higher scoring but not the absence of the spin threat. Minhas still took 2 wickets at 2.70 economy on that surface. The ground won’t neutralise him. Australia needs to bat with a specific plan against him, not just hope the pitch does their work. If Connolly gets meaningful time at the crease and the middle order targets Minhas in his opening overs before he sets his field, Australia have a chance. If not, the PAK vs AUS 3rd ODI Australia tour 2026 Arafat Minhas narrative writes itself the same way it has twice already.
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What is Arafat Minhas’s bowling style?
He’s a left-arm orthodox spinner who angles the ball into right-handers from over the wicket and straightens it toward off stump. He’s taken 7 wickets across two ODIs against Australia at a series economy of 2.95.
How many wickets has Minhas taken vs Australia in 2026?
Minhas has taken 7 wickets in two ODIs: 5/32 in the 1st ODI and 2/27 in the 2nd. His series average is 8.43, and economy is 2.95.
When is Pakistan vs Australia 3rd ODI?
The Pakistan vs Australia 3rd ODI is on 4 June 2026 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, starting at 4:30 pm PKT. The ground has an average first innings ODI score of 258.
Who is Australia’s captain for the Pakistan ODI series 2026?
Josh Inglis is captaining Australia after Mitchell Marsh was ruled out injured before the tour began. Inglis is also the wicketkeeper and was bowled by Minhas in the 2nd ODI.
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