Abdullah Fazal became only the sixth Pakistani to score a half-century in both innings of his Test debut on Tuesday, turning his first match into a place in the record books at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Fazal made 60 in the first innings and followed it with another half-century in the second as Pakistan chased 268 against Bangladesh. The performance put him in a small group of Pakistan debutants whose names have lasted for more than the day’s scorecard.

Only five Pakistani batters had done it before him. Azhar Mahmood made an unbeaten 128 and 50 against South Africa in Rawalpindi in 1997. Yasir Hameed followed with 170 and 105 against Bangladesh in Karachi in 2003. Umar Akmal scored 129 and 75 against New Zealand in Dunedin in 2009, Fakhar Zaman made 94 and 66 against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2018 and Abdullah Shafique struck 52 and 73 against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2021.

The rarity of the feat is what gives Fazal’s debut its weight. In Pakistan Test history, a player does not often walk into the side and deliver runs in both innings, let alone do it while the team is in pursuit of a target as high as 268. That makes Tuesday’s performance more than a debut flourish; it places Fazal alongside a short list of batters whose first Tests began with sustained scoring, not a single innings spike.

The question now is not whether Fazal produced a memorable start. He did. It is whether he can turn a one-match breakthrough into a longer stay, because the history he joined is a club of performances that still stand out years later. For Pakistan, that is the next test.