Afghan cricket star Ibrahim Zadran overcame Matheesha Pathirana’s bad performance to score 98 to give Afghanistan a 1-0 series lead. With this, Zadran broke Shubman Gill’s record.
When Sri Lanka played Afghanistan on Friday in the first of three ODIs at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota, Matheesha Pathirana was the center of attention. After winning the trophy with Chennai Super Kings in his first IPL season, led by MS Dhoni, who had nothing but praise for the player, Pathirana was expected to replicate that performance while wearing national colors.
But the opposing team’s opening batter Ibrahim Zadran overcame his bad performance. The young player, who wore the number 18 shirt for India, much as Virat Kohli does, scored a courageous 98 to win the game and break Shubman Gill’s ODI record, giving Afghanistan a 1-0 series lead.
Even though Zadran had not played in this format in six months, he just kept up his excellent form. Zadran made his Afghanistan debut in 2019, but his remarkable run really began precisely one year prior, when the team traveled to Zimbabwe for a series. In the second game, he hit 121 and then smashed 106 and a huge 162 on the November tour of Sri Lanka.
On Friday, Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz early in the pursuit of the 269-run goal. However, Zadran, who achieved his half-century in just 35 balls, single-handedly inflicted an onslaught on Sri Lanka’s bowlers by hitting 145+ kph balls from Pathirana. Rahmat Shah was able to settle in and take his time before the duo added a magnificent 146-run combination.Kasun Rajitha ultimately prevented Zadran from scoring a well-deserving century, but by that point Afghanistan had fewer than 100 runs to chase in 20 overs.
The chase was finished in the 47th over, giving the guests a 1-0 series advantage. In the course of his innings, Zadran—who was given the Player of the Match award became the second-fastest hitter to score 500 ODI runs, surpassing South Africa’s Janneman Malan, who still holds the record (7 innings). It is the joint-fastest by an Asian hitter, surpassing India’s greatest Shubman Gill (10 innings) and matching Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq.
Zadran’s career thus far has been characterized by consistency, both domestically and internationally. In the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament and afterwards in the Shpageeza Cricket League, the right-handed hitter made his List A debut six years ago. But his meteoric ascent might be attributed to his outstanding performance in the 2018 U-19 World Cup in January 2017, when he finished as the team’s highest run-getter.
He was chosen for the one-off Test match against Bangladesh in 2019 and, en route to his 87 in the second innings at Chattogram, became one of the youngest players to achieve a fifty on debut. He got selected for ODIs and T20Is shortly after that. With Shahzad’s unexpected withdrawal from the game, Zadran solidified his position as the opener with his dependable performance in all formats, a peek of which was witnessed on Friday against Sri Lanka.
