Cricket: Message sent! Mohammad Haris shines for Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025 opener against Oman
Pakistan spinners prove too good for Oman’s top order
Fresh off winning their one-off Tri-Nations series against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Pakistan kicked off their 2025 Asia Cup with a convincing victory over tournament first-timers Oman and confirmed our cricket predictions.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday, the Shaheens suffered an early setback, with opener Saim Ayub losing his wicket for a golden duck, caught lbw by Faisal Shah in the first over.
However, Sahibzada Farhan and Mohammad Haris steadied the ship for the Green Shirts with an 85-run partnership for the second wicket before the former was caught and bowled by Aamir Kaleem for 29 runs.
Haris went on to post an impressive 66 off 43 deliveries at number three, helping his side to a very defendable 160/7. Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Nawaz also played important roles in Pakistan’s middle order.
Despite his disappointing performance with the bat, Ayub made amends with the ball in hand, knocking over Oman skipper Jatinder Singh with his second delivery before doubling his tally by picking up the wicket of Aamir Kaleem in his second over.
All six of Pakistan’s bowlers took wickets in the match, with Sufiyan Muqeem and Faheem Ashraf bagging a brace apiece to restrict the tournament debutants to a mere 67 all out in the 17th over.
Concerns grow over gulf in class at Asia Cup
This year, Asia Cup organisers decided to expand the competition to eight teams in order to allow lower-ranked nations, such as Oman, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, to participate in the continental showpiece.
However, the early signs around this move have not been promising, with most of the matches so far played in front of half-empty stadiums, suggesting that fans are either losing, or have no interest in seeing powerhouses like India and Pakistan taking on the likes of the newly included teams.
Additionally, results in the competition so far have also revealed the massive gulf in class between the participating nations, underlined by the Men in Blue and the Shaheens' big wins in their opening matches of the competition.
The concern for the Asian Cricket Council is now whether this lack of interest will overspill into the headline fixtures in the competition, especially the blockbuster India vs Pakistan clash scheduled for this Sunday, September 14.
