One-off Test: Rahmat Shah hammers twin 50-plus scores vs Bangladesh
What's the story
Afghanistan cricket team captain Rahmat Shah has made history by becoming the sixth player in Test cricket to register twin 50-plus scores on his debut as captain, which also includes at least one hundred. He achieved this remarkable feat during the one-off Test match against Bangladesh at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Rahmat scored an unbeaten 105 in the first innings and followed it up with a 51-run knock in the second innings.
Match update
Bangladesh set a mammoth target for Afghanistan
Meanwhile, Bangladesh have set a daunting target of 479 runs for Afghanistan to chase in Abu Dhabi.
Skipper Shah arrived at four and played another stellar knock. He joined forces with opener Sediqullah Atal, and the duo added 82 runs.
The captain dominated this stand and completed his fifty with a six. However, he fell to Ebadot Hossain soon after.
Record achievement
Rahmat joins an illustrious list of players
Rahmat Shah's stellar performance has put him in the same league as former Indian captain Virat Kohli, who was the last player to achieve this milestone on his Test captaincy debut against Australia in December 2014.
He had hammered twin tons in Adelaide.
The first player to score two 50-plus scores, including a ton, on his maiden Test as skipper was England's Archie MacLaren, who achieved the feat against Australia back in 1897.
New Zealand's Geoff Rabone, Australia's Greg Chappell, and Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor later joined this list.
Stats
A look at Rahmat's stats
Rahmat returned unbeaten on 105 off 216 balls in his first outing and followed it up with a 124-ball 51.
Playing his 13th Test match, he has raced to 1,199 runs at a brilliant average of 49.95.
His tally now includes four tons and seven fifties. No other Afghan batter even has 900 runs in Test cricket.
As per Cricinfo, Rahmat now has two tons and a fifty across six innings against the Tigers (297 runs at 59.40).
Overall, in First-Class cricket, the veteran now has nine tons and 15 fifties.