Best Pakistan ODI Debut Spells, Full List: Abrar Ahmed Emulates Abdul Qadir

Against Zimbabwe today (November 26), Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed matched Abdul Qadir to become the only second spinner from his country to take a four-wicket haul on ODI debut.

Coming into the second match 0-1 down, Pakistan named two changes: Abrar and Tayyab Tahir were handed ODI debuts in place of Haseebullah Khan and fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain. After batting first Zimbabwe lost opener Tadiwanashe Marumani for four owing to a run out. Arbar, sharing the new ball with pacer Aamer Jamal, found instant success off his second over. After being smashed for two successive fours at the start, he dismissed Joylord Gumbie (5) off the penultimate ball to claim his first ODI wicket.

After bowling five overs in the powerplay for 1-23, Abrar came back for his second spell in the 28th over, removing Brandon Mavuta (3), Brian Bennett (14), and Richard Ngarava (2) in his next three overs. He finished with 4-33 as Zimbabwe were bowled for 145 in 32.3 overs. White-ball vice-captain Salman Ali Agha picked up 3-26, while Saim Ayub and Faisal Akram took one wicket each. This is the 43rd instance – 30th among Full Members – of spinners taking nine wickets in an ODI.

Best ODI debut spells by a Pakistan bowler, full list

Overall, four Pakistan bowlers have taken a four-wicket haul on their maiden ODI appearance. Of them, Abrar is one of the two spinners. The other one is Abdul Qadir, who took 4-21 on debut against New Zealand in Birmingham in the 1983 World Cup. Notably, Qadir's figures came in a 12-over spell as back then the ODI format was played in the 60-over format.

Three out of the top four figures on the list have come against the 'Blackcaps', with pacer Zakir Khan's 4-19 in Peshawar in 1984 being the best performance.

Two days back, during the series opener against Zimbabwe, Faisal's 3-24 became the fifth-best by a Pakistan bowler on debut. Apart from the aforementioned names, 10 Pakistan bowlers have taken three wickets during their ODI debut.

In response, Ayub smashed an unbeaten 62-ball 113 to take Pakistan home in 18.2 overs, without losing a wicket.

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.

Click here to read article