Pakistani cricketer whose record was not broken even after 66 years, also played the role of opener, scored a century at Lord’s

New Delhi. It is said that records are made only to be broken and there are some records which have remained unbroken for many years. One of these records is that of the youngest person to take 5 wickets in an innings in Test, this record is in the name of Nasim-ul-Ghani of Pakistan. Left-arm spinner Ghani made this record in the Georgetown Test against West Indies in March 1958. When he took 5 wickets for 116 runs in the first innings of West Indies, his age was only 16 years and 303 days.

After Naseem Ul Ghani, who played international cricket from 1958 to 1973, many young bowlers have shone on the world stage but his record has not been broken till now. Another Pakistani bowler with the same name ‘Naseem’ has narrowly missed equaling or breaking this record. Fast bowler Naseem Shah made his Test debut in November 2019 at the age of 16 years and 9 months. Naseem Shah, who is rich in bowling skills, took 5 wickets in the second innings against Sri Lanka in Karachi in his third Test but missed out on equalizing this record by a gap of four days. When Naseem Shah took 5 wickets for 31 runs in 12.5 overs, his age was 16 years 307 days.

Three Indian batsmen who completed centuries by scoring 6 in all three formats, one did this feat in just three months.

Born in Delhi but played for Pakistan

Talking about Naseem Un Ghani, he was born on 14 May 1941 in Delhi but after the partition of the country, he chose Pakistan as his homeland. Due to his excellent performance at an early age, he got a chance to play Test for Pakistan at the age of 16. When Ghani made his debut against West Indies in Bridgetown in January 1958, he was only 16 years and 248 days old and was the youngest cricketer to play Test. Later, 7 cricketers including Sachin Tendulkar left behind this record of debut at a young age. Naseem could not take any wicket in his debut test but in his second test at Port of Spain, he proved his talent by taking three wickets each in both the innings. His victims included stalwarts like Gary Sobers and Everton Weeks.

5 pairs of brothers who have scored centuries in the same innings of a test match, including a pair from Asia

Best bowling performance in debut series itself
Ghani became the youngest bowler to take 5 wickets by opening the ‘claw’ in his fourth test in Georgetown. In this 5-Test series against West Indies, Ghani took 19 wickets at an average of 26.74, which included the best performance of 6/67 in the last Test. However, Naseem Ul Ghani could not maintain the shine he had shown in the debut series. In his career of 15 years, he could play only 29 Tests and 1 ODI. He has 52 wickets in his name in Tests at an average of 37.67. Apart from spin, Ghani was also adept at left arm medium pace bowling.

Cricketers whose balls have never scored 6 in Test, two Pakistanis are included, one has 10 centuries in Test.

One century and two half-centuries are also recorded in his name.
Landed at number 9 in debut test Naseem Ul Ghani He was underrated in batting for some time but his defense was quite good. In the 1973 Sydney Test against Australia, he came as an opener and scored 64 runs with the help of 9 fours in the first innings and 5 runs in the second innings. A Test century is also recorded in his name at Lord’s ground, which is called the ‘Mecca of Cricket’. By doing this he became the first Pakistani cricketer to score a Test century at Lord’s. In June 1962, against England at Lord’s, Naseem played an inning of 101 runs in the second innings as a night watchman. He stayed at the wicket for 225 minutes and hit 15 fours and one six. In 29 Tests, he scored 747 runs at an average of 16.60, which included one century and two half-centuries. After playing the ODI match against New Zealand on 11 February 1973, Naseem could never become a part of the Pakistan team.

Cricketer who played only 4 tests has 2 big records in his name, had equaled that of maternal grandfather and grandson, relation with royal family

Four brothers were also first class cricketers
The game of cricket was in every fiber of Naseem ul Ghani’s family. His four brothers – Anees Ul Ghani, Atiq Ul Ghani, Raees Ul Ghani and Tehzeeb Ul Ghani have also played first class cricket. Anees played 18 matches, Atikane 5, Raees 1 and Tehzeeb played 2 matches. However, none of them were as talented as Naseem. After retiring from cricket, apart from being a member of the Pakistan Selection Committee, Naseem Ul Ghani also served as a match referee.

Tags: Naseem Shah, Pakistan cricket, Pakistan cricket team, Test cricket