Yasir Shah, the man who is a look-alike of Lionel Messi, is on top of the world. Officially.
The headline sums it up perfectly…kudos to Yasir Shah! pic.twitter.com/38sVzXSFEJ
— Sana Bucha (@sanabucha) July 17, 2016
The Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir has knocked England’s James Anderson off the top of the International Cricket Council Test rankings in the aftermath of his match-winning heroics at Lord’s.
It has been a whirlwind 2016 for the stocky, chubbier version of Messi. The man who was banned for three months by ICC for mistaking his wife’s blood pressure medicine for his own, came back to cricket with a bang as he bowled Pakistan to a famous win at Lord’s in the first Test against England.
Yasir’s maiden 10-wicket haul helped Pakistan secure a 75-run win.
Star of the match: Yasir Shah, looks like Lionel Messi, smiles all the time, and could be the fastest to 100 wickets in tests!
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) July 17, 2016
And here are some records he broke on the way:
- The first Pakistani to be World No. 1 Test bowler since his fellow leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed 20 years ago. The 30-year-old climbs from number four to the top of the ICC bowlers’ rankings following his 10 for 141 figures against England, which included Sunday’s second-innings figures of four for 69.
- Yasir Shah took 10 wickets in a Test for the first time in his career
- In just 13 matches, he has taken 86 wickets at an average of just 23 apiece. If he gets to 100 Test wickets in his 15th Test he would have broken a 120-year old Test record. George Lohmann, the England bowler, had reached the mark in 16 matches in 1896.
- He is the first spinner to take 10 wickets in a Lord’s Test since England’s Derek Underwood in 1974 and just the sixth in all.
- Yasir Shah’s name is on the Lord’s honours board now, something not even Shane Warne managed in his career!
Yasir Shah to Gary Ballance.
Shane Warne to Andrew Strauss. #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/Wkxoz0AY7e
— Ali. (@iPakistani10) July 17, 2016
10 wickets in th game at Lords by Yasir Shah on a non friendly wicket for spinners.well done 👏👏👏 congrats @pakistancricket PakvsEng
— Harbhajan Singh (@harbhajan_singh) July 18, 2016
We need players like YasirShah, Asad, Misbah etc to come from our systems. We have talent in our team, we need talent at grassroot2/3
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) July 17, 2016
Little unbelievable for me. This is Yasir Shah’s first Man of the Match award in Tests. He has 86 wickets in 13 Tests. Number 4 in Rankings.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 17, 2016
Yasir Shah in his first Test match outside Asia:
10 wicketsName on honours boardHighest Test score#Cricket #EngvPak
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) July 17, 2016
Will he carry on his form and get to the world record? Go on, Messi 2.0!
With AFP inputs (Featured image: Reuters)
