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Pakistan's middle-order batter Saud Shakeel has entered the record books of Test cricket. Shakeel has become the first batter in Test cricket history to register more than 50 runs in each of his first seven Tests. Shakeel achieved the feat on Day 3 of second Test against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo.
Salman made his Test debut against England and registered scores of 37 and 76. In the following two Tests, he had scores of 63, 94 and 23, 53. In the two-Test series against New Zealand he scored 22 and 55 in the first game. In the second Test, he scored an unbeaten 125 followed by 32. In the first Test against Sri Lanka he scored an unbeaten 208 followed by a 30-run knock.
Shakeel scored 57 runs in the ongoing second Test to get the record in his name. He scored 57 runs from 110 deliveries including six fours. Shakeel got dismissed lbw by Asitha Fernando. The 27-year-old shared a 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Abdullah Shafique who went on to score his maiden double Test hundred.
Shakeel also made a massive leap in ICC Test batter rankings. He jumped 12 spots to 15th position. Shakeel has 691 points, 42 less than India's Virat Kohli who is ranked 14th after a century in the second Test against West Indies.
The southpaw has an excellent average in Test cricket as well. From 13 innings, he has scored 875 runs at an average of 87.5 including two centuries and six half-centuries.
Apart from Shakeel's massive Test record, Pakistan opener Shafique scored 201. He became the second visiting opener to score a Test double century on Sri Lankan soil after West Indies' Chris Gayle.
On the other hand, Agha Salman became the third Pakistan batter to score a Test ton at no.7 on Sri Lankan soil. Izamam-ul-Haq did it first in 1994 in Kandy. Two decades later, Sarfaraz Ahmed repeated the feat. He remained unbeaten on 132. On Day 4, he will need 20 more runs to register the highest score by a no.7 Test batter in Sri Lanka.
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