Pakistan's Saud Shakeel slams a historic Test double-century: Key stats
Hours after reaching three figures, Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel has notched up his maiden Test double-century during the 1st Test against Sri Lanka. Shakeel, who rescued the visitors, continued with his attacking approach on Day 3. Although the middle-order batter lost Agha Salman, he went on to bat with tail-enders. Shakeel has become the 12th Pakistan batter with an away double-century in Test cricket.
Here's how Shakeel raced to his second Test ton
Shakeel arrived in the middle when Pakistan were tottering on 67/3. They had lost Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, and Shan Masood by then. Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed, both of whom looked solid, also departed after a few overs. Shakeel paired up with Salman and returned unbeaten on 69(88). The former completed his ton on Day 2 off 129 balls.
Shakeel batted with sheer determination to reach his double-ton
It is worth noting that Shakeel is playing his first Test innings overseas. And he has cracked the code straight up! On Day 3, he lost Salman as well but took Pakistan past 300 with Nauman Ali. The latter and Shaheen Afridi then departed in quick succession. However, Shakeel batted with Naseem Shah and brought up his maiden double-century off 352 balls.
Seven 50+ scores in 11 Test innings
Shakeel, playing his sixth Test, smashed 19 boundaries en route to his double-ton. The middle-order batter is off to a terrific start in Tests. He has seven 50+ scores in just 11 innings. Shakeel, who made his debut in the England series, has recorded scores of 37, 76, 63, 94, 23, 53, 22, 55, 125*, 32, and 200*.
Shakeel enters this elite list
While several Pakistani batters have slammed double-tons in Test cricket, only a few reached this mark away from home. As mentioned, Shakeel has become the 12th Pakistan batter with an away double-century in Test cricket. Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Azhar Ali, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Aamer Sohail, Abid Ali, Hanif Mohammad, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohsin Khan, and Mushtaq Mohammad are the others.
First Pakistani to score double-ton in SL
Shakeel returned unbeaten on 208(361) as Pakistan were bowled out for 461 in the first innings. He has become the first Pakistani batter to have scored a double-century in Tests in Sri Lanka.
