Afghanistan-the first 5 Tests

Afghanistan has now played 6 Tests, neatly divided into 3 losses and 3 wins.

Here we compare the performances in the first 5 Tests for all teams (except Ireland who have played only 3 Tests).

(1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw)

We see that Australia and England have the best performance in their first 5 Tests, followed by Afghanistan, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Australia is the only team to win their first Test, and Zimbabwe the only one to draw their first Test. Zimbabwe in fact drew their first 2 Tests.

Bangladesh and South Africa lost their first 5 Tests in a row.

We now look at individual performances by Afghan players in the 6 Tests played so far.

Most runs (100 and more):

Note the consistency of Asghar Afghan and Rahmat Shah who each made four 50+ scores.

Highest scores (75 and above):

While H Shahidi has the only double century here, others have been more consistent.

Bowling (5 or more wickets overall):

Rashid Khan has more than twice the next (Amir Hamza)

Innings bowling (4 or more wickets):

Note the dominance of Rashid Khan here. He and Amir Hamza are the only ones to have taken 4wi. Hamza’s 5-74 against WI was on debut.

Match bowling (5 or more wickets):

The top three places are by Rashid Khan, and the next two by Amir Hamza. He took 6-79 on debut.

Most dismissals (4 or more):

While wicketkeeper A Zazai has 10 dismissals, I Zadran has the most (6) by a non-keeper.

All-round overall:

Rashid Khan is the only one who can be called an all-rounder.

All-round match (fifty and 5wi):

Here, too, the only standout performer is Rashid Khan. He was captaining his side, and scored a fifty and took over 10 wickets. The only other Test captains who did this are Imran Khan (v Ind 1982-83) and AR Border (v WI 1988-89).

Afghanistan’s performance so far

Afghanistan has won 2 and lost 2 of its first 4 Tests. This makes it the best performer along with Australia and England:

(Here we have taken 1.0 for a win and 0.5 for a draw).

Now we look at individual performances:

Most runs (100 and above):

Rahmat Shah is the only one with a century. He and Asghar Afghan each have three fifties.

Highest innings (50 and above):

Ibrahim Zadran and Ihsanullah made fifties on debut.

Most wickets (5 and above):

Rashid Khan is the only one with a 10wm, and he also has the most 5wis (3).

Best innings bowling (3wi and above):

The two best figures are by Rashid Khan in the course of his 11-for. He also scored a fifty.

Amir Hamza took 5-74 on debut.

Best match bowling:

Apart for Rashid Khan’s dominance, there is Amir Hamza’s 6-wicket haul on debut.

Most dismissals (4 and above):

Note that Ibrahim Zadran and Ihsanullah have the most by non-keepers.

All-round match performance (50 and 5wi):

Once again Rashid Khan stands alone. In fact he has the rare double of a fifty and 10wm, which has happened only 29 times in all Tests.

 

 

Afghanistan and Ireland in Tests-1

Afghanistan and Ireland have each played 3 Tests, including one between themselves. Here is the record of these matches:

Afghanistan have made rapid progress, starting with a two-day defeat in their first Test followed by two wins, the latest against the higher-rated Bangladesh. Ireland have lost all three Tests, putting up a good fight in the first two but abjectly collapsing to 38 all out in the third. They did however dismiss England for 85 in that Test.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (100 and above):

Rahmat Shah, KJ O’Brien and Asghar Afghan (former Stanikzai) have the most runs. The only centuries are by Rahmat and O’Brien, the latter on debut. Rahmat and Asghar have 3 scores of 50+.

At the other end of the scale, Murtagh became the first No 11 batsman in any Test to score 25+ in each innings during Ireland’s second Test.

Highest innings (75 and above):

Bowling:

Most wickets (8 and above):

Rashid Khan has by far the best total here. He has 3 fivers and the only tenner here. Murtagh is the only other with a fiver.

Best innings bowling (4wi or more):

Note Rashid’s two fivers in the same match, while Murtagh’s 2018 figure is the best on debut from either side. Murtagh also became the first Irish player to appear on the Lord’s honours board.

Best match bowling (6wi and above):

Rashid Khan has the two best performances here.

To be continued