Prior to Ajmal, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Galle in July 2009, Waqar and the disgraced Mohammad Asif had been joint holders for Pakistan with both taking 20 Tests to complete 100 wickets. -Photo by AFP

KARACHI: Ace off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who earned the distinction of completing 100 wickets in least number of Tests for Pakistan during the series-clinching 72-run victory against England in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, has become holder of another landmark for his country.

The 34-year-old from Faisalabad took just two years and 205 days to reach the coveted milestone which makes him the quickest among Pakistanis in terms of time span, overtaking legendary fast bowler, former captain and ex-coach Waqar Younis who got the 100-wicket mark in three years and 48 days against New Zealand at Hamilton in January 1993 after starting his international career in 1989’s Karachi Test in November which coincidentally also marked the debut of legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

Prior to Ajmal, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Galle in July 2009, Waqar and the disgraced Mohammad Asif had been joint holders for Pakistan with both taking 20 Tests to complete 100 wickets.
Ajmal is among a list of five bowlers who reached 100 wickets in 19 Tests. The other four are England’s Colin Blyth (who completed the feat in his final match), West Indians Alf Valentine and Andy Roberts and former England all-rounder Ian Botham.

The quickest to the 100-wicket milestone, of course, remains Englishman George Lohmann who only required 16 Tests when he achieved the feat against South Africa at Johannesburg in March 1896, but incredibly took nine years and 216 days when Test matches during the 19th century were virtually non-existent and were played after very long gaps.

Charlie Turner, an Australian, took eight years and four days to complete 100th wicket on his 17th and final Test appearance against England at Sydney in February 1895.

Sydney Barnes of England also needed 17 Tests to reach the century of wickets in a span of 10 years and 72 days, against Australia at Sydney in December 1901. The only other man to emulate the feats of Turner and Barnes was Australian leg-spinning genius Clarrie Grimmett who did so against the Wet Indies at Brisbane in January 1931.

Among all bowlers in Test cricket, Kapil Dev, arguably the greatest all-rounder produced by India who made his debut against Pakistan at Faisalabad in October 1978, took just one year and 105 days to get 100 wickets — at Kolkata in January 1980 which also was the then Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal’s last Test.

The others who took less time than Ajmal in reaching 100 Test wickets are Australia’s Mitchell Johnson and Graeme Swann of England (who both got there on their 23rd Test appearance in exactly one year and 250 days), Ian Botham (two years and five days), Steve Harmison (two years and 11 days), Shane Warne (two years and 26 days) and Andy Roberts (two years and 138 days).

The time-span for other Pakistani bowlers reaching their respective first 100 wickets in at least 30 Tests are Danish Kaneria (23 Tests, in four years and 34 days, reaching the feat against Australia at Sydney in January 2005), Saqlain Mushtaq (23 Tests, in four years and 71 days; v Australia at Hobart, Nov 1999), Wasim Akram (30 Tests, in four years and 352 days; v Australia at Melbourne, Jan 1990), Mohammad Asif (20 Tests, in five years and 208 days; v England at Trent Bridge, July 2010), Shoaib Akhtar (27 Tests, in five years and 271 days; v Bangladesh at Peshawar in Aug 2003), Fazal Mahmood (22 Tests, in six years and 127 days; v West Indies at Karachi, Feb 1959), Mushtaq Ahmed (26 Tests, in six years and 314 days; v New Zealand at Rawalpindi, Nov 1996), Abdul Qadir (28 Tests, six years and 315 days; against India at Faisalabad, Oct 1984), Umar Gul (27 Tests, in six years and 327 days; against Australia at Lord’s, July 2010), Imran Khan (26 Tests, in eight years and 226 days; v India at Chennai, Jan 1980) and Sarfraz Nawaz (30 Tests, in nine years and 333 days; v New Zealand at Christchurch, Feb 1979).

And finally, Ajmal’s two feats are also unique since all of his 19 Test appearances have been away from Pakistan in the aftermath of that deadly terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team at Lahore on March 3, 2009.