Rashid Khan became the youngest player to score a half-century and pick up five-wickets on his captaincy debut. The 20-year-old, who made his debut as Afghanistan’s captain in the one-off Test match against Bangladesh, is also the fourth overall cricketer to achieve the feat and the youngest to do so. Rashid hit 51 in Afghanistan’s first innings before taking a five-wicket haul on Day 3 of the only Test match. This was also Rashid’s second five-wicket haul in his only third Test appearances for Afghanistan. Bangladesh Vs Afghanistan, Live Cricket Score One-Off Test Match.
He is the 17th captain to score a half-century and also pick up five wickets in the same Test match but Rashid is only the fourth cricketer to achieve the rare feat in his captaincy debut. Former England captain Sheldon Jackson (1905), Pakistan legend Imran Khan (1982) and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (2009) are only players to have completed this rare milestone on their captaincy debut before Rashid nailed it. Rashid Khan Becomes Youngest Test Captain During Afghanistan vs Bangladesh One-Off Test Match, Breaks Tatenda Taibu’s 15-Year-Old Record.
Rashid hit 51 runs from 61 deliveries, which included three sixes and two fours, before also returning to take five Bangladeshi wickets and bowl the opposition out for just 205. His first victim of the five-wicket haul was Liton Das before the willy leg spinner removed Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in successive deliveries, the latter for a first-ball duck. Rashid then removed Mahmudullah before returning on Day 3 and cleaning-up Nayeem Hasan to bow-out Bangladesh.
The new Afghanistan skipper’s figures read 5/55 in 19.5 overs taking him on level with three of his predecessors. He is also the youngest cricketer ever to captain his side in a Test match. Rashid broke the record set by Tatenda Taibu 15 years ago when he led Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka at the age of 20 years and 358 days. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi is the third-youngest captain to lead a cricket team. He led India when he was 21 years and 77 days old. Interestingly, Rashid was only 20 years and 350 days old when he led Afghanistan against Bangladesh.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2019 05:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).