When it comes to leg spinning, Shane Warne has forgotten more than most will ever know.
So when he gave Yasir Shah a big wrap during Channel Nine’s preview at the Gabba in the lead-in to the first Test, it was taken as a given.
“He’s very good, and just loves to bowl, he’d bowl all day if his captain asked, and he smiles a lot,” was how the legend described Yasir.
I’ll get to the ability side of Yasir shortly, but for the moment let’s just concentrate on the smile.
When Steve Smith on 129 smacked Yasir down the ground Mohammad Amir made a meal of a regulation catch at long off.
Yasir smiled.
Next over Smith was out, but the prize wicket went to Wahab Rias.
Nic Maddinson replaced his skipper, and was dropped at bat-pad by Azhar Ali, another regulation catch off Yasir.
But Yasir smiled again.
When the session ended, and Peter Handscomb had completed his maiden Test ton, who was the first to tap the Australian on the back, vigorously shaking his hand, and smiling?
Yasir Shah.
The point in singling out Yasir is there’s never been a bowler in my experience of playing and covering cricket who smiles when a team-mate drops a regulation chance.
Especially not once, but twice.
The usual reaction from a bowler is hands on his hips looking at the ground, or a long stare, and from the more aggressive bowlers, a few loud expletives.
But smile? Never. There was a hint that has fire in his belly – involved in a confrontation with teammate Wahab Riaz over a tackle made in a practice soccer game. But the pair appeared on video, smiling and discussing the fact that they’re just very good friends.
Yasir’s approach on the field is very special and that’s in keeping with his ability that has in part been honed by Warne.
Yasir is 30, turning 31 in May next year. He didn’t make his Test debut until last year, nine years after he made his first class debut.
And the only reason he cracked the Test arena was because Saeed Ajmal was suspended for chucking.
Yasir didn’t waste any time making his Test place permanent by becoming the fastest Pakistani to reach 50 Test wickets in nine games, and the fastest to crack a 100 Test scalps in just 17 Test in a year and 357 days.
The only bowler quicker in number of Tests to reach 100 wickets is Englishman George Lohmann, set in 1896, from just 16 Tests.
There was a golden wicket-taking run from Yasir’s seventh Test to his 13th:
Spectacular figures.
So Yasir Shah is not only right up there with the best of all time, but better than many legends, including his mentor Shane Warne who took 23 Tests and two years 26 days to crack the 100 Test wicket barrier.
Other notables in number of Tests to reach 100 wickets:
Clarrie Grimmett – 17.
Ravi Ashwin – 18.
Alf Valentine – 19.
Bill O’Reilly – 20.
Waqar Youbis – 20.
Erapalli Prasanna – 20.
Dale Steyn – 20.
Ian Bishop – 21.
Joel Garner – 21.
Anil Kumble -21.
Stuart MacGill – 21.
Bill Johnston – 22.
Dennis Lillee – 22.
Jeff Thomson – 22.
Allan Donald – 22.
Malcolm Marshall – 23.
Graham McKenzie – 23.
Ashley Mallett – 23.
Glenn McGrath – 23.
Tony Lock – 24.
Peter Pollock – 24.
Max Walker – 24.
Jason Gillespie – 24.
Ryan Harris – 24.
Ravinda Jadeja – 24.
England’s Jim Laker holds the world record of 19 wickets in a Test against the Australians at Old Trafford in 1956, but he took 27 Tests to reach 100, and in the very next Test grabbed the 9-37 and 10-53
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