Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel registered a new Asian record during his century against Bangladesh in the first Test at Rawalpindi, becoming the highest run-scorer in the continent’s history across their first 20 Test innings.
Recently appointed as Pakistan’s vice-captain in Test cricket, Shakeel arrived at the crease with his team in dire straits on the opening day. Pakistan had already lost Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, and Babar Azam, finding themselves in a precarious position at 16-3.
Shakeel managed to steady the innings, forging a partnership of 98 runs for the fourth wicket with Saim Ayub. Following that, he formed a formidable 240-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan, with both batters reaching their centuries.
Yesterday, Shakeel became the joint-quickest Pakistani batter to reach 1,000 runs in Test cricket, doing so in just 20 innings. By the time he was stumped by Litton Das, he had scored 141, and broken another record.
Before this innings, Shakeel had amassed 967 runs in 19 Test innings. His total now stands at 1,108 runs in 20 innings – the highest number of runs by any Asian batter in the first 20 innings of their Test career.
The other Asian players who have achieved 1,000 runs or more within 20 innings include Mayank Agarwal (India), Saeed Ahmed (Pakistan), Cheteshwar Pujara (India), and Vinod Kambli (India).
Among these players, Kambli held the record for the most runs after 20 innings, with 1,056. Shakeel surpassed this milestone when he reached 90 runs in the 74th over of the innings.
He now stands 17th on the all-time list, surpassing the West Indies' George Headley, who amassed 1,102 runs in his first 20 innings. Unsurprisingly, the leader of this chart is Don Bradman, who scored 1,889 runs. Everton Weekes follows in second place with 1,445, and Herbert Sutcliffe is third with 1,348.
Among current players, England’s Harry Brook leads the chart with 1,181 runs in his first 20 Test innings, while Marnus Labuschagne has scored 1,166.
It must be noted that among the Asian players Shakeel has outpaced, India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored 1,028 runs in 16 innings, giving him another four innings to add to his tally. Jaiswal is likely to be in action against Bangladesh next month, and he could potentially overtake Shakeel.
