Rawalpindi Test: Abdullah Shafique And Imam-ul-Haq Join Elite List Of Pakistan Openers
Pakistan vs Australia: Shafique and Imam became the fourth Pakistani opening pair to register a century each in the same innings of a Test match.
The first Test match between Pakistan and Australia ended in a tame draw as the pitch in Rawalpindi showed no signs of assistance for the bowlers. The hosts lost only 4 wickets in their two innings, with their openers staying unbeaten in the second essay as Pakistan scored 252 runs before stumps were called on the final day. Abdullah Shafique (136*) and Imam-ul-Haq (111*) remained not out as the tired Australian bowlers failed to make any breakthrough. The Australians themselves scored 459 in the first innings in response to Pakistan's first innings total of 476/4 declared.
Shafique and Imam thus became the fourth Pakistani opening pair to register a century each in the same innings of a Test match. Imam had scored 157 in the first innings, while Shafique had managed 44 runs. Azhar Ali was the other centurion from the first innings, who had scored 185 runs.
Pakistan Cricket Board congratulated the opening batters on Instagram.
The first time two Pakistani openers achieved this feat was in 1997 against West Indies at Karachi as Aamir Sohail (160) and Ijaz Ahmed (151) slammed tons.
Saeed Anwar (101) and Taufeeq Umar (104) were the second duo to do it, in 2001, against Bangladesh in Multan. Shan Masood (135) and Abid Ali (174) slammed tons against Sri Lanka in 2019 in Karachi.
Both Pakistan and Australia players will be hoping that the wickets in the remaining two Test matches will be of some assistance to the bowlers so that the contest is a more balanced one between bat and ball.
Pakistan Cricket Team
Australia Cricket Team
Imam-ul-Haq