Smriti Mandhana sets record by scoring one hundred runs, surpassing Mithali Raj in total runs scored

Currently, the Pakistan team is on tour in England, where their performances have not yielded the expected results. The team has lost two consecutive Test matches, trailing the series 0-2. Now, the Pakistani team aims to win the final match of the series, scheduled for September 9th, to avoid the disgrace of a complete defeat. Significant changes have also occurred within the Pakistani squad ahead of the Edgbaston match: seven players were dropped, and the coaching staff underwent reshuffles.

Despite the current difficult period, the Pakistani team once held a very strong reputation in world cricket, featuring many outstanding athletes. Among them, one cannot forget the left-handed opener Saeed Anwar, whose trademark was the ability to score quickly from the start thanks to excellent timing and shot placement.

Saeed Anwar's international career, which marked his 58th birthday on September 6th (Sunday), spanned from 1990 to 2003. For Pakistan, he amassed thousands of runs in both Tests and ODIs. In 1997, during an ODI against India in Chennai, he played a knock of 194 runs off 146 balls, which was the highest individual score in an ODI at that time. He approached two hundred runs but was caught by Saurav Ganguly off a Sachin Tendulkar delivery.

Interestingly, this record of Saeed Anwar was matched in 2009 by Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe, who scored 194 runs without being dismissed. Subsequently, in 2010, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar played a historic innings of 200 runs without being out against South Africa, thereby surpassing Anwar's record.

Anwar batted actively not only in ODIs but also in Tests, where he also registered many big scores. It is worth noting that many of his best Test performances took place on foreign soil. In 1994 in Wellington against New Zealand, he scored 169 runs, marking his first Test century. Two years later, in Hove against England, he delivered an impressive innings of 176 runs. In 1998, in a Test match against India in Calcutta, Anwar remained unbeaten on 188 runs, which was his highest Test score. His batting attracted attention because he hit boundaries not so much through power as through mastery of timing and placement.

For Pakistan, Saeed Anwar scored 4052 runs in 55 Test matches, maintaining an average of 45.52, and scored 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries. His ODI statistics were even more impressive: in 247 matches, he accumulated 8824 runs, including 20 centuries and 43 half-centuries. He was particularly renowned for his magnificent drives off the off-side. If a bowler left even a small gap outside the mid-stump, Anwar would immediately drive the ball to the boundary. His game combined aggression with a special kind of beauty.

Saeed Anwar's Test career concluded under very emotional circumstances. In August 2001, in a Test match against Bangladesh in Multan, he scored 101 runs, which was his 11th and final Test century. In that match, Pakistan posted a formidable total of 546/3 in the first innings, and five batsmen from the team scored centuries. This unique record of five centuries in one Test match is jointly held by Pakistan and Australia. However, for Anwar, this match brought more pain than joy.

After his daughter Bismah, who was three and a half years old, passed away after a long illness just two days after his century in the Multan match, Anwar returned to Lahore. After this tragedy, he did not play any more Test matches. He stepped away from cricket for some time, and his life changed. This is why the 101 runs scored in Multan entered the list of the most memorable and touching centuries of his career.

Having lost his daughter, Saeed Anwar returned to ODIs and scored a century against India in the 2003 World Cup. Although Pakistan lost that match, Anwar's innings was magnificent. He dedicated this century to his daughter Bismah. This innings became one of the most emotional moments of his international career.

Saeed Anwar announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket on August 15, 2003. Following this, he engaged in religious activities and began growing a beard. Anwar actively participated in events related to the propagation of Islam. Muhammad Yusuf, a former batsman for Pakistan, was also significantly influenced by Anwar in life. Yusuf converted to Islam in 2004 and later stated that Saeed Anwar had provided him with great assistance during his religious change. Before converting to Islam, Yusuf was known as Yusuf Johana.

August 26, 2012, will forever remain a special day for the Indian team, as it was on this day that India won the U-19 World Cup title in Townsville against Australia. At that time, the team was led by young batsman Unmukt Chand.

In the final, a strong Australian team faced India. Initially, Australia's position was extremely difficult: after four players fell for only 38 runs, captain William Bosisto took the initiative and helped the team by scoring an impressive 87 runs in half an hour. In the end, Australia scored a total of 225/8 in 50 overs.

India needed to score 226 runs to secure their third victory in the U-19 World Cup. While pursuing this goal, the Indian team lost four batsmen in just 25 overs, scoring only 97 runs.

After this, captain Unmukt Chand, along with Smith Patel, stabilized the game and helped India become the third-time U-19 World Champion. India won this match by six wickets. Chand demonstrated powerful batting against the Australian bowlers, scoring 111* not out. In this innings, he hit seven fours and six sixes.

At that time, Unmukt Chand was considered a future big star of Indian cricket, and he was compared to other promising players. It seemed that this athlete would play for the Indian team in the future. However, the story of cricket does not always follow expectations.

Despite the initial brilliant success, Unmukt Chand's career did not reach the height expected of him after the memorable U-19 World Cup final. He also failed to leave his mark in the IPL. One of his most striking photos in the IPL is when Brett Lee dismissed him with a clean bowl on the very first ball of the tournament in 2013, using his magnificent outswinger.

The player, once compared to Virat Kohli, never managed to play in international matches for the senior Indian team. In 2021, at the age of just 28, Unmukt Chand decided to leave Indian cricket and moved to America. There, he played in a minor American cricket league and signed a contract with the Silicon Valley Strikers, who became champions. Currently, Unmukt Chand plays for the Los Angeles Knight Riders in the Major League Cricket (MLC).

Last year, on September 12, 2025, a documentary about Unmukt Chand titled 'Unbroken: The Unmukt Chand Story' was released in cinemas, and then premiered on ZEE5 on May 27, 2026.

First Class: 67 matches, 3379 runs, average 31.57, 8 centuries, 16 fifties, maximum 151 runs.

List-A: 120 matches, 4505 runs, average 41.33, 7 centuries, 32 fifties, maximum 127 runs.

IPL: 21 matches, 300 runs, average 15.00, strike rate 100.00, 1 fifty, maximum 58 runs.

In the second and final match of the two-match test series between India and Sri Lanka, held in Colombo, young Indian batsman Dhruv Jurel demonstrated outstanding performance. On the second day of the match, he scored an impressive hundred against the Sri Lankan team, achieving this off 171 balls. In the first half of the game, Jurel remained not out, scoring 115 runs.

Thanks to this achievement, Dhruv Jurel became the second player in Sri Lankan history to score a Test century for India while batting at number seven or lower. Before him, this feat was accomplished by Hardik Pandya in a match in Palakkad in 2017, when he scored 108 runs.

This hundred is the second Test century in Jurel's career. On the second day, he increased his score by 7 runs and formed an important partnership with Rishabh Pant, scoring 112 runs together. Rishabh Pant was dismissed after scoring 63 runs off 89 balls. After Pant's dismissal, Jurel continued his innings, adding 39 runs with Manav Sutera. It is worth noting that Devdhadhath Padukkal also scored a hundred on the same day, displaying a brilliant innings with 117 runs.

During his innings, Jurel displayed magnificent play, scoring runs freely on weak deliveries and respecting good bowling. His performance gave significant strength to the Indian team. Joy was visible on Jurel's face after reaching a hundred, and his teammates welcomed his outstanding performance with applause.

Earlier, Dhruv Jurel achieved his first Test century on October 3, 2025, in Ahmedabad against West Indies, where he scored 125 runs off 210 balls.

The Indian squad included: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdhadhath Padukkal, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Sutera, Saransh Jain, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna. The Sri Lankan squad consisted of: Chamila Mishra, Lahiru Udara, Pasindu Suriyabandara, Chamindu Mendis, Danjaya de Silva (captain), Sonala Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Kesara Nuwanta, Prabhat Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumar, and Asith Fernando.