Rawalpindi: Pakistan's Saud Shakeel has seen a significant enhancement in his batting average following a remarkable century against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi on Thursday, establishing himself as the second-highest scorer among active Test cricketers with a minimum of 10 Test matches.
This achievement was realized in the inaugural Test match against Bangladesh.
In the opening innings, Shakeel delivered a powerful performance, scoring 141 runs from 261 balls. His innings was characterized by nine well-placed fours, with the scoring rate reaching 54.02.
This has propelled Shakeel's Test batting average to 65.17, placing him second among active Test cricketers who have completed at least 10 matches, surpassing the averages of renowned players such as Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Virat Kohli, all considered among the greatest of their era by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
In the rankings of Test batting averages, with a minimum of 20 matches, Shakeel stands at number two, trailing only the legendary Australian batsman Donald Bradman, who holds the record for the highest batting average of 99.94.
In his brief but promising Test career, Shakeel has completed his 1,000 runs in Tests in just 20 matches, matching the record set by Saeed Ahmed. Together, they have achieved this feat in just 11 Tests and 20 matches.
In the span of 20 matches, Shakeel has accumulated 1,108 runs at an average of 65.17, with a highest score of 208. He has also achieved three centuries and six fifties, marking a successful start to his Test career.
Shakeel holds the record for the most runs by an Asian player in the first 20 matches of their Test career, with only Mayank Agarwal (India), Saeed Ahmed (Pakistan), Cheteshwar Pujara (India), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), and Vinod Kambli (India) having surpassed this milestone.
Prior to the match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Following a challenging start at 16/3, including the dismissal of the top order, including the skipper Babar Azam for a duck, Shakeel found support from Saim Ayub (56 runs from 98 balls, including four boundaries and a six) in stabilizing Pakistan's position. A subsequent 240-run partnership with Mohammed Rizwan (171 runs from 239 balls, including 11 fours and three sixes) and a brief contribution from Shaheen Shah Afridi (29 runs from 24 balls, including a four and two sixes) led Pakistan to a substantial score of 448/6.
Hasan Mahmud (2/70) and Shoriful Islam (2/77) were the leading bowlers for Bangladesh. Bangladesh ended the day at 34/1.
