In the second Test of the two-match series against South Africa, at Rawalpindi, Asif Afridi became the oldest cricketer to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut.
Asif Afridi breaks all-time record
Already 1-0 up in the series, Pakistan bolstered their spin attack even further by including left-arm finger-spinner Afridi in their XI for the second Test (they already boast of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan). At 38 years 299 days, Afridi became the second-oldest to debut for Pakistan.
As with the first Test, the spinners found assistance yet again. Despite fifties from Abdullah Shafique (57), Shan Masood (85), and Saud Shakeel (66), Pakistan collapsed from 316-5 to 333 all out as Keshav Maharaj (7-102) and Simon Harmer (2-75) shared nine wickets.
Afridi came on as the fourth bowler of the Pakistan attack. For a while, South Africa seemed to be able to thwart the spin threat as Tristan Stubbs (76) and Tony de Zorzi (55) took them to 167-2, but Afridi trapped both leg-before on either side of the wickets of Dewald Brevis and Kyle Verreynne.
When he trapped Harmer leg-before on the third morning, Afridi became the oldest Test debutant to take a five-wicket haul. He went past the long-standing record of “Father” Marriott, who was almost 38 when he took 11 wickets against the West Indies at The Oval in 1933 – but never played another Test.
2nd Test, South Africa vs Pakistan
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- Ball by ball Over
Oldest debutants to take five-fors in men’s Test cricket
| Age on day 1 of Test | Bowler | Figures | Team | Opposition | Venue | Season |
| 38 years 299 days | Asif Afridi | 5-46* | Pakistan | South Africa | Rawalpindi | 2025/26 |
| 37 years 332 days | "Father" Marriott | 5-37 | England | West Indies | The Oval | 1933 |
| 6-59 | ||||||
| 37 years 258 days | Hines Johnson | 5-41 | West Indies | England | Kingston | 1947/48 |
| 5-55 | ||||||
| 37 years 145 days | Douglas Carr | 5-146 | England | Australia | The Oval | 1909 |
| 34 years 208 days | George Simpson-Hayward | 6-43 | England | South Africa | Johannesburg | 1909/10 |
- Johnson is the oldest fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut.
- Carr had made his first-class debut earlier that summer. He had played only six first-class matches until then, but got his cap during an Ashes when the England selectors were keen on a bowler who could bowl the googly, still a very new trick.
- Simpson-Hayward is the oldest underarm bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut – a record that will almost certainly never be broken. He was the last truly world-class underarm bowler at Test level.
