Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper batsman Ikram Ali Khil, on Thursday, wrote his name in the history of ICC Cricket World Cup by scoring an impressive 86 off 93 against West Indies.
On July 4, at Headingly in Leeds, the 18-year-old broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record by becoming the youngest player to score 80-plus runs in a World Cup game. Tendulkar, who held the record for 27 years, had scored 81 against Zimbabwe at Hamilton in 1992 and was 18y-318 days old. Ikram, on the other hand, reached the milestone at 18 years 278 days.
"I'm very proud to have broken the record of a legend like Tendulkar. It makes me very happy," the youngster was quoted as saying by the ICC.
Afghanistan's Ikram Alikhil @ 18 years 278 days - is now the youngest to register an 80+ score in #CWC history!
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 4, 2019
Bettered the previous record of Sachin Tendulkar (81 v Zim at Hamilton 1992) then aged 18y-318d#CWC19 #CWC2019#AfgvWI #WIvAfg
His knock, however, came in a losing cause as Afghanistan, who lost to West Indies by 23 runs, hit the rock bottom, as they bowed out of the tournament without even a single win. Chasing 312 set by the Men in Maroon, Afghanistan, out of everyone’s surprise, delivered a confident performance with the bat, with Ikram top scoring for his team.
"I'm very happy that I scored 86 runs which was the top score for Afghanistan," said Ikram.
"No one had crossed that mark in the nine games but I'm disappointed at the same time because I thought I could score a hundred. Hopefully in the games ahead I will score a hundred for Afghanistan.
Despite all the lows in the tournament, Afghanistan almost managed to pull out an upset against both of their Asian opponents, India and Pakistan.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar
