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Fakhar Zaman becomes fastest to 1,000 ODI runs

It’s been a magnificent last few weeks for Pakistani opening batsman, Fakhar Zaman. He was one of the highlights of the recently concluded tri-series that Pakistan won, beating Australia in the final. He then continued that form into the 5-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, breaking tons of records there as well.

Just some days back, he became the first Pakistani batsman to score a double century in ODIs, beating a 21-year old record for the highest ODI score by a Pakistan batsman, set by the legendary Saeed Anwar. That game also saw the first ever 300+ runs partnership for the opening wicket in the history of ODI cricket.

However, the 28-year old didn’t want to stop there. There was one ODI left in the series and he wanted to keep scoring against the weak Zimbabwean bowling attack. In the 5th and final ODI, Pakistan won and completed a 5-0 whitewash and Zaman scored a brisk 85 in that game too, breaking a couple of records there as well.

Firstly, he became the fastest batsman to 1,000 ODI runs in the history of the game. Five batsmen including the legendary Sir Viv Richards were tied for this record, having reached the milestone in 21 innings each. Zaman smashed their record, reaching the milestone in just 18 innings – a little over a year since he made his ODI debut.

Another record he surpassed was a 16-year old one set by Mohammad Yousuf against the same opposition 16 years ago. Zaman scored 60 in the 1st ODI, 117* in the 2nd ODI, 43* in the 3rd ODI, 210* in the 4th ODI and was dismissed for 85 in the 5th ODI, recording 455 runs between two dismissals and beating the previous record of 405 runs set by Yousuf.

Zaman seems to be an exciting talent and could be a vital part of the Pakistan team as countries prepare for the ICC 2019 World Cup. Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for major sporting updates from around the world.

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