Pakistan's Saud Shakeel set a new Asian record during the course of his century against Bangladesh in the first Test in Rawalpindi, by becoming the continent's highest run-scorer in their first 20 Test innings.
Shakeel, recently appointed Pakistan's new vice-captain in Test cricket, came out to the middle with his side in trouble on day one. They had lost Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood and Babar Azam, and were struggling at 16-3.
Shakeel managed to stick around in the middle, and put on 98 for the fourth wicket with Saim Ayub. Thereafter, he was involved in a 240-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan as both batters reached 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.
Saud Shakeel sets new Asian record with ton against Bangladesh
Coming into this match, Shakeel's run tally sat at 967 runs in 19 Test innings. It now stands at 1,108 in 20 innings – the most runs of any Asian batter in the first 20 innings of their Test career.
The other Asian players to have reached 1,000 runs or more in 20 innings are Mayank Agarwal (India), Saeed Ahmed (Pakistan), Cheteshwar Pujara (India) and Vinod Kambli (India). Yashasvi Jaiswal has 1,028 runs in 16 innings, so he meets the criterion as well.
Of these players, the one with the most runs after 20 innings was Kambli (1,056). Shakeel crossed the mark when he reached 90 in the 74th over of the innings, tucking Shakib Al Hasan behind square leg to do so.
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He is now 17th on the all-time list, crossing West Indies' George Headley who managed 1102 runs in his first 20 innings. Unsurprisingly, the player who leads this chart is Don Bradman, who scored 1889 runs. Everton Weekes is second with 1445, and Herbert Sutcliffe third with 1348.
Among active players, England's Harry Brook leads the chart with 1,181 runs in his first 20 Test innings. Marnus Labuschagne scored 1,166, and Gary Ballance 1,061.
It is worth mentioning that among the Asian players Shakeel has managed to surpass, India's Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored 1,028 runs in 16 innings, meaning he has another four innings to add to his tally. In all likelihood, Jaiswal will be in action against Bangladesh next month and he could overtake Shakeel.
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