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Newly appointed Afghanistan Test team captain Rahmat Shah equals former Team India captain Virat Kohli's record. In the ongoing one-off Test match against Bangladesh at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Shah enters his name in the record books.
There were not too many Test team captains before Shah who left their mark with their batting in their debut match as the national Test team captains. Shah is the fourth in the list to record a century and a half-century in his first assignment as a Test team captain.
Rahmat Shah touches Virat Kohli's record as Test captain
The one-off Test match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh has turned into an intense face-off as both of the teams have been showing promising performance with both bat and ball. Bangladesh, the favourite to win the match, face a challenging situation in the first innings, when the Afghanistan skipper was on the pitch. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named Rahmat Shah as their Test team captain, replacing Hashmatullah Shahidi.
As it was Shah's first match as the Test team captain, all eyes were on him. The Afghanistan skipper did not disappoint the fans with the bat. In the first innings, when the Afghans were trying to overcome Bangladesh's first innings total of 346, Rahmat Shah claimed a century. Playing 216 deliveries, he remained not out on 105. Afghanistan, the host of the match, got only 240 runs in their first innings.
Rahmat Shah and Sediqullah Atal put up a brilliant fight
Bangladesh strengthened their first innings lead as they added 372 runs in the second innings, losing 7 wickets. The match went on Day 5 with a high possibility of ending in a draw. Expectations were high on Shah again when he walked out into the middle. The home team was in a better position in comparison to their first innings when Shah came to bat.
Sediqullah Atal was there on the pitch as a well-set batter. The partnership between Atal and Shah proved crucial in the match. While the bowlers of Bangladesh were hoping to clinch the remaining wickets in quick intervals, those two batters formed a rock-solid partnership. Rahmat Shah departed after scoring 51 runs off 124 balls. Atal meanwhile completed his century on Day 5.
Batters who made history on Test captaincy debut
Before Shah, Archie MacLaren, Geoff Rabone, Greg Chappell, Brendan Taylor, and Virat Kohli were the batters who claimed a century and a half-century in their debut matches for their respective national cricket teams in the Test format.
Players to make a century and a 50+ score on Test captaincy debut:
1. Archie MacLaren (England): 109 and 50* vs Australia at Sydney, December 1897.
2. Geoff Rabone (New Zealand): 107 and 68 vs South Africa at Durban, December, 1953.
3. Greg Chappell (Australia): 123 and 109* vs West Indies at Brisbane, November 1975.
4. Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe): 71 and 105* vs Bangladesh at Harare, August, 2011.
5. Virat Kohli (India): 115 and 141 vs Australia at Adelaide, December, 2014.
6. Rahmat Shah (Afghanistan): 105 and 51 vs Bangladesh, October 2026
