Pakistan middle-order batter Saud Shakeel has become part of a unique yet unfortunate record in the history of Test cricket, after getting out near a century in both innings of the Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka.
Saud Shakeel scored 93 in the first innings and 97 in the second innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, making him only the fifth batter in the world to fall victim to the “nervous nineties” in both innings of the same Test match.
In the nearly 150-year history of Test cricket, this marks only the sixth instance where a batter has been dismissed between 90 and 99 runs in both innings of a single match.
Abdullah Fazal injured; possibility of Saud Shakeel’s inclusion in the Test squad, sources say.
Prior to this, four other batters have gone through this unpleasant experience; among them, the legendary former West Indies cricketer Gordon Greenidge is the only player to whom this has happened twice.
Before Saud Shakeel, the last player to fall victim to the “nervous nineties” in both innings of a single Test was Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene in August 2009. Playing against New Zealand in Colombo, he scored 92 in the first innings and 96 in the second, but failed to complete a century on both occasions.
The first instance of this occurred with West Indies’ Gordon Greenidge during a Test match against Pakistan in Georgetown in March 1977, when he scored 91 runs in the first innings and 96 in the second.
Three years later, in February 1980, Greenidge once again fell victim to the “nervous nineties” in both innings—this time scoring 91 and 97 runs against New Zealand in a Test match in Christchurch.
England’s Frank Woolley is also included in this unique list; in June 1921, at Lord’s, he scored 95 runs in the first innings and 93 in the second against Australia.
The very first occurrence of this in the history of Test cricket took place in January 1902, when Australia’s Clem Hill missed out on completing a century in both innings of a Test match against England in Adelaide.
Clem Hill scored 98 runs in the first innings and 97 in the second. His total of 195 runs remains the highest aggregate among all batters who have fallen victim to the “nervous nineties” in both innings of a single Test match.
Saud Shakeel scored a total of 190 runs across both innings against Sri Lanka, which stands as the second-highest aggregate on this unique list.
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