Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - Major Personal Milestones Around the Corner
This post first appeared on DAWN.
Pakistan vs
Sri Lanka has become an all too familiar sight for the cricket watching public.
This is Pakistan's third visit to the Island for a full tour in the past 4
years. To put it into context, Pakistan has not toured Australia, England, New
Zealand, or the West Indies during this period. Moreover, Pakistan has also
played Sri Lanka in the UAE twice during this time, making this the 5th
test series between the two sides since October 2011.
During this
period, the two teams have played 11 tests with Sri Lanka holding a slight edge
with 4 wins to Pakistan's 2. Both of Pakistan's wins have come in the UAE. In
fact, it has been 9 years since Pakistan won a test match in Sri Lanka; that
was the last time that Pakistan won a test series in the Island as well.
Besides turning
around their test performance in Sri Lanka, Pakistan's test cricketers will
also be eyeing some personal achievements during this test series.
YOUNIS KHAN
Pakistan's
absolute test legend will play his 100th test during this series,
fitness permitting of course. This will be a significant feather in his cap
making him only the 5th player from Pakistan to play 100 tests (the
others are Javed Miandad, Inzamam Ul Haq, Wasim Akram, and Salim Malik).
Younis Khan
also has some more achievements to look forward to. He needs only 286 runs to
go past Javed Miandad and become Pakistan's leading run scorer in test cricket;
only 453 runs to become the first Pakistani to score 9,000 test runs; only 1
century to become the first Pakistani batsman to hit 30 test centuries.
Given the
form Younis has been in recently, there is every likelihood that he will
achieve all these feats during the upcoming 3-test series against Sri Lanka.
Ahmed Shehzad
Pakistan's
talented young opener has had a fabulous start to his test career scoring 718
runs, including 3 centuries, in only 15 test innings. He needs another 282 runs
to reach a 1,000 test runs and he has the opportunity to create a Pakistan
record of becoming the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 test runs. The record
right now is held by Saeed Ahmed who required 20 innings to complete 1,000 test
runs.
Shehzad is
also in the running for a Pakistan record in terms of time required to score
1,000 test runs. Having made his test debut on 31st December 2013,
it had been 1 year and 164 days since his test debut. The Pakistani selectors
denied him a good opportunity to create this record by unfairly dropping him
from the test squad against Bangladesh, but good on them to correct this
mistake and bring the talented opener back into the fold.
Misbah Ul Haq
Pakistan's
test captain has already achieved so much while captaining the team that there
doesn't seem much left for him to do. He has taken Pakistan to number 3 in the
test rankings, he has won more tests as captain than any other Pakistan
captain, he has scored more runs as captain than any other Pakistan captain,
and he has led Pakistan more times than everyone else, except for the great
Imran Khan.
So what else
is left for Misbah to make his own? Well, he needs 1 more century to equal and
two more to break Inzamam Ul Haq's record of 7 test centuries scored as
Pakistan captain.
Yasir Shah
Pakistan's
newest leg spinner has been a revelation in test cricket. He has taken over
from Saeed Ajmal in the best possible way and has plenty of wickets to show for
his tenacity and perseverance. Rated by Shane Warne as the best leg spinner in
the world today, Yasir Shah has so far picked up 37 wickets in only 7 tests.
He has the
opportunity to complete 50 test wickets faster than any bowler from Pakistan if
he can pick up another 13 wickets in the next 2 tests. The Pakistan record for
fastest to reach 50 test wickets is jointly held by Waqar Younis, Mohammad
Asif, and Shabbir Ahmed, who managed it in 10 tests. For spinners, the Pakistan
record is held by Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman who required 11 tests.
Yasir Shah
also has time on his side as it has only been 235 days since his Test debut
against Australia in October last year. No one has achieved the feat of picking
up 50 test wickets for Pakistan within a year of his debut.
While the
overall international record for fastest 50 test wickets is 6 tests, held by
Charlie Turner from Australia, the record among spinners is held by Alfred
Valentine, the slow left armer from West Indies, who managed the feat in 8
tests. Yasir can't break that record but he definitely has the opportunity to
equal it.
While
Pakistan will be looking to improve its test record in Sri Lanka, and its
cricketers will have their eyes firmly on their personal goals, Pakistan's two
biggest nemeses will be licking their lips at the prospect of playing against
their favorite opposition once again. Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath have
been the two biggest hurdles that Pakistan has not been able to overcome.
No one has
scored more test runs or test centuries against Pakistan than Sangakkara has.
Moreover,
Sangakkara will be looking to add to his 2,809 runs against Pakistan and become
the first batsman in the world to score 3,000 test runs against them. That will
make him the first cricketer to score 3,000 test runs against an opposition
besides Australia and England. The feat has been achieved only 7 times before -
by Bradman, Border, Sobers, and Steve Waugh vs England; and Tendulkar, Hobbs,
and Gower vs Australia.
Rangana
Herath has also been very successful in tests against Pakistan picking up 88
wickets in only 17 matches, making him the third most successful bowler against
Pakistan. He needs only 3 more wickets to surpass Shane Warne, and only 12 more
wickets to become the first bowler in the world to pick up 100 wickets in tests
against Pakistan.
So
then, even though the upcoming test series may reek of too much familiarity,
there is plenty at stake for the players taking part. It will definitely make
for interesting viewing to witness experienced campaigners like Younis, Misbah,
Sangakkara, and Herath achieve the above mentioned milestones near the end of
their careers; as it would be to witness upcoming talent like Shehzad and Yasir
to achieve their feats so early in their careers.
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