ISLAMABAD – 2018 was yet another roller coaster ride for the unpredictablePakistan cricket, as Sarfraz Ahmed’s men continued to impress in thelimited overs format, especially in T20Is, but were pretty mediocre in thegame of Test.
However, this did not hamper Pakistan cricket players to rewrite historybooks. Here is the list of records set by the Men in Green in 2018.
*Yasir Shah fastest to 200 scalps*
Leg spinner Yasir Shah rewrote history books in November after he becamethe fastest bowler in cricket to claim 200 Test wickets, which he achievedduring the third Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.
Shah broke the 82-year-old record of Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett — whotook his 200th wicket in his 36th Test against South Africa in 1936,however, Shah managed to claim the feat in only his 33rd Test match.
*Fakhar first to score 200 for Pakistan*
Opening batsman Fakhar Zaman became the first Pakistani batsman to score200 runs in One Day International (ODI) cricket. Zaman achieved this featon July 20 against cricket minnows Zimbabwe.
However, it was a big sigh of relief for the Pakistani cricket fans, whowere eagerly waiting for someone to surpass the legendary Saeed Anwar’s 194against India.
*Babar Azam overtakes Virat Kohli, pile records*
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Top order batsman Babar Azam maintained his place as the country’s premierbatsman as he continued to claim records in 2018.
In October, the youngster became the first batsman to score fiveconsecutive centuries at UAE, with scores of 120, 123, 117, 103 and 101 inlast five ODIs. Azam also became the fastest to reach seven ODI centuries,with 33 innings, breaking the record of Proteas great Hashim Amla withseven tons in 41 ODI innings.
To top it off, Azam, who is currently the number one T20I batsman, becamethe fastest to reach the 1,000 runs milestone in 26 games in 20-overscricket, one match short of his idol the Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
*Abbas dazzles with the ball*
Fast bowler Mohammad Abbas, was the spearhead of Pakistan fast bowlingbattery dismantling batting lines of the likes of Australia and England atwill in 2018. In October, Abbas became the first fast bowler to take a10-wicket haul in a UAE Test, while becoming the second fastest bowler forPakistan to claim 50 Test wickets.
The youngster with a career average of just 15.64 also hold the distinctionfor having the fourth best bowling average for any bower with 50-pluswickets in the last 100 years. Only three English fast bowlers GA Lohmann,JJ Ferris and William Barnes who last played in 1890, had better averagesthan Abbas.
