During the fifth ODI against Ireland at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan became the youngest to 50 ODI wickets in the history of cricket. At the age of 18 years and 185 days, he got to the milestone which beat Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis' record which was set in 1990.
Courtesy of the four-wicket haul in the final ODI, which helped his side claim the series 3-2, the leg spinner crossed the 50 ODI wickets mark in just 26 matches. That is the record for the fastest by any Associate player, which he now jointly holds along with his teammate Hamid Hassan who also took 26 matches.
In the history of ODIs, only six players have reached the 50 ODI wickets mark quicker than the leg spinner but he is the youngest to the mark by some distance. When Waqar Younis picked up his 50th ODI wicket against West Indies in Karachi in 1990, he was just 18 years and 358 days old but Rashid got to the mark with more than 150 days to spare and claimed the record of being the youngest to the mark all for himself.
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His four-wicket haul meant that at the end of 26 ODIs, the 18-year-old leggie has 53 ODI wickets to his name. Only two bowlers, Ajantha Mendis (61) and Mitchell McClenaghan (54) have more wickets at the end of 26 ODIs than Rashid, who joins India's Ajit Agarkar in third place on this particular list.
In the history of ODIs, only five players have managed to pick up 50 wickets before turning 20 and Rashid became the first non-Pakistan player and the second 18-year-old (after Waqar) to join that illustrious list when he got rid of Ed Joyce.
He got there in his 26th ODI, which is the joint-seventh fastest in ODI history along with Australia's LS Pascoe, West Indian duo of BP Patterson and Curtly Ambrose and Rashid's teammate Hamid Hassan.
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Ajantha Mendis holds the all-time record for being the fastest to 50 wickets as the Sri Lankan spinner got to the mark in just 19 ODIs. In terms of time taken from their debut, only two players have managed to get to 50 wickets within a year of making their ODI debut.
India's Agarkar needed just 182 days from his debut to get to the milestone, which is the lowest time taken by any bowler to the mark and he is second on the list of fastest, alongside McClenaghan. Mendis took 277 days.
| Player | Team | Age |
| Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | 18 years 185 days |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 18 years 358 days |
| Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | 19 years 37 days |
| Aaqib Javed | Pakistan | 19 years 111 days |
| Saqlain Mushtaq | Pakistan | 19 years 310 days |
Note: Updated at the end of 5th ODI between Afghanistan and Ireland.
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