Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah on Thursday (Dec 06) became the fastest bowler on the planet to pick up 200 wickets in the Test match format. He removed New Zealand’s debutant, William Somerville, in the first session on Day 4 of the Abu Dhabi Test match to get to this milestone!
Yasir breaks the 82-year old record that was previously held by Australia’s leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett since 1936! Grimmett made this feat against South Africa and he took 36 Test matches to get to this milestone. India’s Ravichandran Ashwin came close to break this record but he fell short by just a Test match – 37 Tests! However, Yasir Shah is now sitting prettily at the top of the ladder who took just 33 Tests to get to this milestone.
Right arm pacer Waqar Younis in 38 Test matches was Pakistan’s fastest bowler to 200 Test wickets but Yasir bettered the former’s record by a big margin. Also, Yasir Shah became the joint second-fastest to pick up 100 Test wickets in 17 Tests and was also the fastest to 50 wickets among Pakistan bowlers in just 9 Test matches.
Yasir picked up a record 14-wicket haul in the 2nd Test match in Dubai of the ongoing series and he currently has 27 wickets to his name in the three Test matches of the series so far. NZ still have 6 wickets in hand in their 2nd innings and that implies Yasir can increase his wickets tally in the series even more!
Ashwin (45 Test matches) is the current fastest bowler to 250 Test wickets which he reached the milestone against Bangladesh in Hyderabad in the year 2017. Now, Yasir Shah has 11 more Test matches to break yet another record in this format of the game!
Meanwhile, Yasir Shah picked up 148 wickets so far in Asia where conditions heavily favour the spin bowlers – 114 wickets in 22 Tests in UAE while 24 wickets in 3 Tests in Sri Lanka. I feel that more bowling records are gonna be broken if he continue to play Test matches in this part of the world!
Keep reading ReadScoops.com for similar updates from Pakistan vs New Zealand in UAE 2018.
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