Mohammad Abbas has pulled off something special at Lord’s. While the rest of Babar Azam’s squad has struggled in the ongoing Test series against England, Abbas has stood out as the clear bright spot.
In the second Test, he picked up four wickets in the first innings and came back even stronger with five in the second on Sunday, August 30.
When you look at the match figures—9 for 130—it really says it all. Abbas was Pakistan’s top wicket-taker in both innings, helping bowl out England for 290 and 208. At 36, he’s still getting the job done, and his performance was easily the highlight for Pakistan.
Now, here’s what makes it historic. Abbas now holds the record for the best-ever bowling figures by an Asian seamer at Lord’s. He’s the first bowler from Asia to grab nine wickets in a single Test at the famous ground. And this is his second time taking eight or more wickets in a Lord’s Test—the only Asian to manage that. Kapil Dev was the first Asian fast bowler to snatch eight wickets at Lord’s way back in 1982, but Abbas has now joined and even surpassed that elite company, with others like Waqar Younis, Mohammed Siraj, and Asitha Fernando also on the list.
Among Asian spinners, only Yasir Khan has better numbers at Lord’s, thanks to his 10-for in 2016. Globally, Abbas is just the fourth bowler—after legends Glenn McGrath, Malcolm Marshall, and Charles Turner—to take eight or more wickets twice at the ground.
Abbas has also shattered an age-old record. At 36 years and 170 days, he’s now the oldest Asian to claim a five-wicket haul at Lord’s, toppling the mark that Vinoo Mankad set 72 years ago. For fast bowlers, Lala Amarnath’s record had stood even longer. Abbas’s achievement puts him among some real legends.
That’s not all. The last time an overseas bowler this old took five wickets at Lord’s, it was Courtney Walsh in 2000. Only Walsh and Keith Miller have taken nine wickets or more in a match at a greater age than Abbas among visiting bowlers in the long history of Test matches at Lord’s.