KARACHI: Pakistan’s Yasir Shah added another unique feather to his cap on Saturday by becoming the first-ever spinner to consecutively take a five-wicket haul in either inning of the five Test matches.
Shah, 31, completed the Dubai Test’s first innings with a spell of 55.5-9-184-6 to complete his career’s 13th five-fors in his 28th Test.
The five-wicket haul in the match against Sri Lanka made him the first-ever spinner in cricket to take five-fors in five consecutive tests.
The Pakistani spin-wizard earlier claimed a five-wicket haul in the Abu Dhabi Test against Sri Lanka (5-51), Dominica Test against West Indies (5-92), Barbados Test against West Indies (7-94), and Jamaica Test against West Indies (6-63).
All of his earlier five-fors came in second innings of each Test.
Sydney Barnes of England got five-fors in seven consecutive tests between 1912 and 1914; in this seven consecutive test span, the total tally of the five-wicket haul for him was 11.
England’s Alec Bedser had six consecutive tests with five-wicket hauls in either inning of the Test. The total tally included 7 five-fors.
Australian Charlie Turner, on the other hand, got five-fors in six consecutive tests between 1887 and 1888 — all against England — and the tally included a total of eight five-wicket hauls.
Pakistan’s Waqar Younis has five-fors in four consecutive Tests, which he achieved this twice. His first stint of five-fors in four consecutive Tests came in 1990, during a back-to-back home series against New Zealand and West Indies.
The second one came between May 1993 and December 1993 and included Tests against West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Mushtaq Ahmed — another Pakistani spinner — also had four consecutive tests with a five-wicket haul in either inning of the match between November 1995 and July 1996.
