Generally when a cricketer plays the first test match of his career, he remembers that for a long time, but the Pakistan leg spinner Zahid Mahmood would want to forget his debut test very quickly because he has created some unwanted records in his first test match.
Going into the Rawalpindi test match against England, Zahid Mahmood was the only specialist spinner that Pakistan picked in their playing XI and since he was the only specialist spinner in the side, the Pakistan captain Babar Azam had to keep Zahid into the attack despite him proving to be very expensive right since the start of his spell.
While the England batsmen targeted almost every Pakistan bowler, Zahid Mahmood, in particular, had to bear most of the brunt of the belligerent England batting as the leg spinner conceded 235 runs in a single innings of the test match in only 33 overs.
While the economy rate of Zahid in a test match was over 6, what was more embarrassing was the fact that he created the world record of conceding the most runs by any bowler on test debut. Before Zahid, this unwanted record was held by the former Sri Lankan off spinner Suraj Randiv.
This is now the most expensive debut innings by any bowler in Test cricket. Zahid Mahmood’s return has ballooned to two for 224. The previously most expensive analysis belonged to Suraj Randiv of Sri Lanka from 2010. Randiv bowled 73 overs. Zahid has overtaken him in 30.2
— Simon Wilde (@swildecricket) December 2, 2022
Advertisement
Zahid Mahmood also bowled most expensive over of Pakistan test match history
Apart from creating the world record of conceding most runs on test debut, Zahid was on the receiving end of another record on the second day of the test match as the England batsman Harry Brook hit him for 27 runs in one over of the innings. It was the most expensive over ever bowled by a Pakistani bowler in test history.
Zahid got a couple of wickets towards the end of the innings and ended with the bowling figures of 4 for 235, but it was a forgettable outing for the leggie because of so many unwanted records that he registered to his name.
