On this day in 2001, Hamilton Masakadza became the youngest batsman to score ton on debut Test
Jul 29, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 29 : On this day in 2001, former Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza became the youngest batsman to amass a century on debut Test.
At the age of 17 years and 352 days, the right-handed batter played a knock of 119 runs off 316 balls in the second innings against West Indies at Harare Sports Club.
His innings helped the hosts to avoid defeat at the hands of the Caribbean side after bundling at 131 in their first innings.
Masakadza was awarded Player of the Match for his contribution with the bat.
Masakadza was not lucky enough to hold the feat for long as in the same year on September 6, Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful surpassed Masakadza and became the youngest player to smash a ton on Test debut.
He achieved the feat at the age of 17 years and 61 days against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
At the age of 18 years and 329 days, opening batsman Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian and the fourth-youngest overall to score a century on Test debut on October 4, 2018, against West Indies in Rajkot.
Masakadza announced retirement from all forms of international cricket last year. He played 38 Tests, 209 ODIs and 66 T20Is for Zimbabwe. He had made his international debut against West Indies in 2001.
The 36-year-old scored 9,543 international runs, registering 10 centuries and 53 half-centuries.
His unbeaten knock 178 against Kenya in 2009 remains his highest score and he is on the fourth spot on Zimbabwe's ODI and Test run-getters lists.
He was appointed as the director of cricket in Zimbabwe Cricket in October last year to transform the game both on and off the field.
