NEWS PORTIAL

(1) YASIR SHAH 19 WICKETS AWAY FROM BREAKING 120-YEAR-OLD RECORD

Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah is now just 19 wickets behind to turn out to be the fastest 100 wicket taker in the history of test cricket.

GA Lohmann of England currently holds the record, who took his 100th wicket in his 16th test match against South Africa in 1896 at Johansburg. Lohmann’s 18-match career in the 19th century garnered 112 wickets at the extraordinary average of 10.75, with his 100th scalp coming in his 16th tests, according to the bowling record.

Yasir Shah has raced to his 81 wickets in his 13th test match by taken five wicket haul in the first inning against England on Friday. And now he is just 19 wickets behind, which he has to take in next five innings to break the record.

Yasir Shah seems on track to reach the target considering his current form he showed in ripping up the England batting lineup at Lord’s.

The leg-spinner also holds the record of the fastest 50 test wicket taker in Pakistan. He achieved this accomplishment in his 9th international test match. Yasir Shah's 58 wickets are the most by any leg-spinner in their first 10 Tests. Previously highest was 57 by the Australian All-rounder Clarrie Grimmett.

Below is the breakdown of bowling milestones achieved by some of greatest bowlers in cricket history in category of fastest to 100:

George Lohmann (Eng) in 16 matches, Charlie Turner (Aus) - Clarrie Grimmett (Aus) - Sid Barnes (Eng) in 17 matches: Ravi Ashwin (Ind) in 18 matches: Colin Blythe (Eng), Alf Valentine (WI), Andy Roberts (WI), Ian Botham (Eng), Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Vernon Philander (SA) in 19 matches: Bobby Peel (Eng), Maurice Tate (Eng), Bill O'Reilly (Aus), Wes Hall (WI), Erapalli Prasanna (Ind), Waqar Younis (Pak), Dale Steyn (SA), Mohammad Asif (Pak) in 20 matches.

(2)Yasir Shah soars to the top of ICC Test bowler rankings

Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, on Monday, moved up to the top position in the International Cricket Council's Test bowler rankings. He replaced injured England pacer James Anderson to conquer the spot.

Swabi-born Shah marked his first Test outside of Asia and the United Arab Emirates by taking 10 wickets in the match as Pakistan beat England by 75 runs in their series opener at Lord's on Sunday.

The 30-year-old took 10 for 141, including a second-innings haul of four for 69 on Sunday's fourth day.

His return, which surpassed Waqar Younis's previous Test-match best for Pakistan at Lord's of eight for 154, was central to the tourists going 1-0 up in this four-match series.

In the first innings of the match on Friday, Shah became the first leg-spinner in 20 years to take a five-wicket haul in a Test innings at Lord's to leave Pakistan well-placed at stumps on the second day of the series opener.

in his first Test since serving a three-month drugs ban, Yasir ran through England's middle-order on the way to five for 64 in 25 overs.

It was the first time any leg-spinner had taken five or more wickets in a Test innings at Lord's since his compatriot Mushtaq Ahmed's five for 57 in 1996.

Yasir has been a consistent wicket-taker for the Misbah-led Pakistan side since his Test debut against Australia in 2014. The leggie, since then, has been a major contributor in Pakistan's rise to the third position in the ICC Test team rankings.

The spinner will be looking to add to his impressive tally of 86 wickets in 13 Tests when Pakistan take on England in the second of the four Tests at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 22.

(3)Pakistan’s Yasir Shah takes unwanted record against relentless England

It was much to the amusement of his press-box colleagues that not so very long ago, John Woodcock, the eminent former cricket correspondent of The Times, began a piece with the words: “As recently as 1936 …” So there are no apologies for going back a little further still now, to the Ashes of 1934 and this very ground, where in the first innings of a drawn match “Tiger” Bill O’ Reilly, the great and abrasive Australian wrist spinner, sent down 59 overs to finish with figures of seven for 189.

From that early pre-war July day until shortly before tea on this, 82 years on, no one had conceded more in an innings of a Manchester Test. Then with the last ball of his 51st over, Yasir Shah wearily dragged an attempted leg-break into the pitch, Jonny Bairstow, on it like a flash, lacerated the long-hop to the midwicket boundary, and Tiger Bill had been toppled.

(4)The story of Yasir Shah, Pakistan’s unique leg spinner who made Lord’s his own

He was disgracefully banned from cricket for his actions at this ground almost six years ago. Six years later, he cleans up the last English batsman to seal Pakistan’s first win at Lords in 20 years – his name is Mohammad Amir. His captain, the man who stabilised this Pakistan team and turned it into world beaters, already has a hundred to his name in this match – his name is Misbah-ul-Haq.

But this day, this victory doesn’t belong to either of those two names, it belongs to a man unknown to much of the world until two years ago, a man who has his name on an honor’s board where Shane Warne doesn’t – his name is Yasir Shah and this is his story.

Yasir Shah made his first-class debut in 2002, and it took him nine years to be selected for international cricket. The start was hardly impressive, he was dropped from the team after merely playing one ODI and one T20. He was destined to join a list of countless Pakistan players who are selected in the wrong format and disappear into the abyss, never to be heard of again.

(5)3rd Test: Yasir Shah creates history!

BIRMINGHAM (Web Desk) – Leg spinner Yasir Shah has now added another feather in his hat by taking his 90th wicket in his fifteenth Test.

It is the most by any bowlers after fifteen Test matches.

The record was previously held by England’s George Lohmann, he took 89 wickets in his first 15 Test matches back in 19th century.

Lohmann also holds the record of getting fastest hundred Test wickets, that’s in 16 Test matches.

After his match-winning show at Lord’s, Yasir Shah was widely anticipated to break Lohmann’s fastest hundred wickets record.

Shah‘s miserable performance in the second test at Old Trafford, and then only one wicket from Edgbaston’s first innings, has killed his chances to check the record.

However, the chances of levelling the record are still vivid.

(6)Yasir Shah on top of the world

Wrist spinner Yasir Shah has become the number-one ranked bowler in the world after he bowled Pakistan to 75 runs victory over England in the first Test at Lord’s on Sunday. 

Yasir is the first Pakistan bowler to top rankings since Mushtaq Ahmed achieved the distinction in December 1996, while Shane Warne was the last wrist spinner to surge to the number-one position in December 2005. 

Yasir, who returned figures of six for 72 and four for 69, has leapfrogged India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and England’s fast bowling pair of James Anderson (who missed the Test due to an injury) and Stuart Broad into the top spot after his achievement earned him 32 points. 

Yasir won the player of the match award in his first Test outside Asia and now leads Ashwin by seven points and Anderson by 10 points. The 30-year-old looks strong to gain further points and create more daylight between him and rest of the field as he is still in the qualification period. A bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has taken 100 wickets, while Yasir has so far claimed 86 wickets in 13 Tests. 

England’s Chris Woakes has also made an impressive gain in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers. Woakes recorded match figures of 11 for 102 for which he has earned a jump of 28 places that has put him in a career-high 36th position. 

Pakistan’s Rahat Ali, who took four wickets in the match, has also achieved a career-high ranking of 32nd after jumping three places, while Mohammad Amir has returned to the rankings just inside the top 100 in 93rd position. 

There was more good news for Pakistan when its middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq also achieved a career-high ranking in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. 

Asad scored 73 and 49 for which he has been rewarded with a jump of two places that has put him in 11th spot. Asad now has a top 10 place firmly within his sights as he trails 10th ranked Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews by seven points. 

Pakistan captain Mishab-ul-Haq, who scored his 10th Test century while scoring 114 in the first innings, has moved up one place to ninth, while wicketkeeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed has gained two places and is now in 17th position. 

For England, Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance have improved their rankings. Bairstow is now on a career-high 16thposition after moving up two places, while Ballance is in 40th position having risen two places. 

(7)Yasir Shah's dope test could come under the spotlight: Alam

LAHORE: The International Cricket Council is conducting dope test on Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah.

Shah was provisionally banned last year after he tested positive for chlortalidone, a masking agent under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances.

He was barred for three months after he pleaded guilty and told the ICC that he had inadvertently taken his wife's blood pressure medication.

His ban was lifted in late March, making him eligible for the England tour.

Pakistan's Team Manager Intikhab Alam said Shah's test could come under the spotlight.

“Besides Shah, Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, one-day skipper Azhar Ali and fast bowler Junaid Khan were also tested but Shah's test could be targeted,” he told.Shah is seen as Pakistan's main wicket-taker for the four-match Test series in England, which starts at Lord's from July 14. Pakistan will also play five one-days and a Twenty20 international on the tour.

The team can ill afford any positive results, which could have a significant impact on their upcoming tour in England, during which the results are expected to be confirmed.

The ICC, which has been a signatory of the WADA since 2006, routinely conducts such tests in and out of competition.