Hashmatullah Shahidi Felt Great About Becoming The 1st Afghan Double-Centurion

Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghanistan batsman became the first player from his war-torn Asian country to score a double-hundred in Test cricket and said that it was a proud moment for him and the country. Afghanistan batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi last week achieved a significant milestone when he became the first player from his country to score a double-hundred in the longest format of the game.

Hashmatullah Shahidi Felt Great After Becoming The 1st Afghan To Score 200

Speaking about his incredible feat on Sunday, the batsman said that he is extremely proud of his achievement and said that it is a great moment for him personally and for the country is as well since Afghanistan is a relatively new entrant having featured in only 6 Tests. Afghanistan debuted as a Test nation in 2018 and they have a double centurion already in such a short span of time.

”I feel great about becoming the first Afghan double centurion, and it’s a proud moment for me, my family, and the nation because in such short time someone from Afghanistan achieved this milestone,” Hashmatullah Shahidi said.

In the second Test against Zimbabwe at Abu Dhabi last week, he also became just the third batsman from his nation to score a century in Test cricket as he remained unbeaten on 200 off 443 deliveries. The batsman hit 21 fours and a six in his nearly 10-hour long stay at the crease. More importantly, he was part of a record 307-run partnership with skipper Asghar Afghan, who himself scored his maiden century and was dismissed for 164.

Afghanistan played their first ever test match against India on 14 June 2018 at Bengaluru, India. Ashgar Afgan who has scored 440 runs is the leading run-scorer while Rashid Khan who has 34 scalps is their leading wicket-taker Apart from the duo, Rahmat Shah was the other centurion having scored 102 against Bangladesh in 2019.

Hashmatullah Shahidi Said Skipper Asghar Afghan Gave Him Confidence After Disappointment In The 1st Lost Game

Hashmatullah Shahidi said that his skipper gave him confidence and the duo were determined to take the responsibility.

”Our discussion was that we must fulfill our responsibility as senior players because he is the captain of the side and the most senior player and he also gave confidence to me and told me you should also take responsibility as a senior because in the first game we didn’t play well and it was a disappointing game for us,” said Hashmatullah Shahidi.

The partnership was important in bringing Afghanistan back in the series after they had lost the first Test within two days. Afghanistan went on to win the Test by 6 wickets and levelled the two-match series 1-1.

In the 2nd Test, Afghanistan scored 545/4 before Zimbabwe scored 287. Following on, it was assumed the match would be over within 4 days but Sean Williams and Donald Tiripano fought to score unbeaten 151 and 95 respectively forging a record 187 run partnership for the 8th wicket. However, Afghanistan finally overcame the dogged resilience and won chasing the target of a little over 100 losing 4 wickets.

Sean Williams was the leading scorer amassing 264 runs averaging 132 while Rashid Khan who was injured in the 1st Test picked 11 scalps averaging 25. He bowled 99.2 overs in the 2nd Test-the maximum by any bowler in a Test since 1998. In 1998, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan had bowled 113.5 overs vs England at The Oval. Rashid Khan created the record for bowling the most number of overs in a single Test in the 21st century.