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Victoria batter Oliver Peake became the 252nd Australian to play men's one-day international cricket during the first ODI against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
The 19-year-old from Geelong has been on a meteoric trajectory since playing a star role in Australia's U19 World Cup win in 2024, when aged just 17, according to the cricket.com.au. At 19 years and 261 days, the left-hander broke former Australian captain Ricky Ponting's 31-year-old record as the youngest specialist batter to debut for Australia. Ponting was aged 20 years and 58 days when he made his ODI debut in February 1995 against South Africa during a tournament in New Zealand, making 1 batting at No.6. The youngest ever ODI debutant for Australia was Pat Cummins at 18 years and 164 days. Cummins is among a handful of front-line stars missing from this tour as selectors prioritise the up to 21 Tests Australia will play in a 12-month block from August. Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and decided to field against Australia in first ODI. During the toss, Shaheen Afridi said Pakistan chose to bowl first because the pitch looks slow and low, and that the team looks to take advantage of the conditions. He also highlighted the significance of Pakistan playing their 1,000th ODI, calling it a proud and special milestone for the country. Pakistan enter this ODI series after a 2-1 series loss against Bangladesh in their away series. While the Bangladesh series provided Pakistan with valuable competitive preparation, they will be keen to deliver a commanding performance in front of their supporters in Rawalpindi. Australia, meanwhile, haven't played an ODI since their home series against India in October last year. They defeated India 2-1 in the series. Australia will look to win the series opener against Pakistan and kick their 2027 World Cup preparations off positively. Pakistan vs Australia playing 11s: Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Maaz Sadaqat, Babar Azam, Ghazi Ghori(w), Salman Agha, Abdul Samad, Shadab Khan, Arafat Minhas, Shaheen Afridi(c), Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed Australia: Matthew Short, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis(w/c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw, Oliver Peake, Nathan Ellis,Tanveer Sangha, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Kuhnemann. (ANI)
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