Kamran Akmal breaks Adam Gilchrist's record: Details here
It has been quite a long time since we saw Kamran Akmal playing for Pakistan at the international level. However, the batsman continues to make an impact in domestic cricket, where he is on a record-breaking spree. Notably, he recently overtook legendary Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist, in terms of number of centuries in First-class cricket. He now has 31 tons under his belt.
Scripting an amazing record, Akmal has now become the first Asian wicket-keeper to score 31 centuries in First-class cricket. He attained the feat when he scored a ton, playing for Central Punjab, against Northern in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Akmal slammed 157 as it was his knock, along with skipper Azhar Ali's 155, that allowed the team to reach a commendable total of 433.
With this ton, Akmal has now gone past Gilchrist to become the wicket-keeper with the second-most number of tons in First-class cricket. Akmal now has 31 tons, one clear of Gilchrist's 30, while he trails England's Les Ames, who had scored 56 FC tons.
Analyzing his career for Pakistan, Akmal made his debut in November 2002 in a Test against Zimbabwe. He was a prolific middle-order batsman for the side across formats. He was also famous for being influential against arch-rivals India, as his century during the Mohali Test in 2005 is still considered one of his best knocks to date.
Although it was going good, Akmal came under the scanner of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in September 2010 for alleged involvement in match-fixing during the 2009-10 Sydney Test. However, two months later, following an investigation by the ICC, he was cleared for national selection. While he has not featured in Tests since then, he did play white-ball cricket.
