DUBAI: Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, on Monday, moved up to the top position in the International Cricket Council’s Test bowler rankings.
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 five Tests at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 22.
