Abid becomes first Pakistani to score centuries in first two Tests of career

KARACHI: Opening batsman Abid Ali on Saturday became the first Pakistani to score centuries in each of his first two Tests.

The right-hander achieved the feat in the second innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium in Karachi. It took him just 137 deliveries to reach the landmark, by which time he had smashed 14 fours and a six. The 32-year-old had also scored an unbeaten 109 in the rain-marred drawn Test in Rawalpindi earlier this week, reported Geo News Saturday.

Later in the day, he also became the Asian batsman with the most number of runs over the first two Tests of his career, surpassing India's Saurav Ganguly's record of 315 runs. The Lahore-born eventually finished with 174 runs when he was trapped lbw by Lahiru Kumara.

Earlier, Abid became just the ninth batsman to score centuries in each of their first two Test matches — a list that includes names such as Mohammad Azharuddin, Bill Ponsford, Saurav Ganguly, Rohit Sharma and Alvin Kallicharran.

Azharuddin made his Test debut in December 1984. He scored a century in the very first Test innings of his career against England — a 110-run knock at Kolkata. In the very next Test match, he struck yet another century — a 122 against the same opposition.

The Australian batsman Bill Ponsford scored 2 successive Test centuries in 2 successive test matches that he played. He made his Test debut in 1924 scoring 110 against England in very first innings of his Test career, he scored 128 runs against England in the second Test.

Australia’s Doug Walters scored a triple figure score (155) against England on debut followed by 115 in the second Test against the same opposition.

West Indian Alvin Kallicharan scored a century on debut against New Zealand in 1972. After scoring 100 in first Test, he also scored 115 in the second Test of his career.

Greg Blewett scored 102 and 115 against England in his first two test to kick-off his career while India’s Saurav Ganguly scored 131 in his first and 136 in second Test against England to launch his successful career.

India’s Sharma is another cricketer to score centuries in his career’s first two Tests. He scored 177 and 117 against West Indies, while New Zealand’s Jimmy Nesham made his debut against India and scored 137 in his first Test. He played his second Test against West Indies and scored 107 to join the club.

If Abid scores a ton in his next Test match as well, he would equal the world record currently held by Azharuddin, who is the only batsman in the world to score tons in three consecutive Test matches to start his career.

It is pertinent to mention here that Abid had also scored a century on ODI debut against Australia in UAE earlier this year.