An Oddsworth Opinion
Salman Ali Agha's ODI feasts, and the lean days in between
The story
Salman Ali Agha made 107 from 90 balls as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the tri-series. The innings took Mohammad Yousuf's record as Pakistan's most prolific centurion at No. 5, and the report places him on a list alongside MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
The Times of India · 19 October at 08:14 BSTSalman Ali Agha joins elite list featuring Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh with record ODI featRead the full storySalman Ali Agha's 107 from 90 balls at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium set up a 37-run win over Sri Lanka. It also took Mohammad Yousuf's Pakistan record for hundreds at No. 5, and The Times of India now puts him on a list with MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
That is grand company for a man whose ODI career only began in 2022. His record backs up the hundreds, with one awkward gap running through it.
Salman Ali Agha's ODI average against other batters
In men's ODIs over the last two years he averages 45.62, while top-seven batters across the game average 32.89. He scores quickly as well, with a strike rate of 96.4 against a benchmark of 85.
All four of his ODI hundreds have come in those two years. A career that started quietly has only lately kicked on.
Feast and famine in his last ten matches
The feasts are lavish: 105 not out against Sri Lanka last November, then 64 and 106 against Bangladesh in March, and now 107 against Sri Lanka again.
The famine is just as plain. He made 6 and 5 in his two innings between that Sri Lanka hundred and the Bangladesh runs, then 6, 7 and 15 in three innings against Australia in May and June.
Every one of his big scores in that stretch came against Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
Career average 44.0Not out
How highly do our ratings rate Salman Ali Agha?
Our ratings make him worth 4.41 runs a match more than an average men's ODI batter. His off-spin adds nothing to the case: our ratings have it 5.51 runs a match worse than average.
His next chance to add to the Pakistan record comes against Sri Lanka at Gaddafi Stadium on 27 October, where our ratings give Pakistan a 76% chance of winning.
On his record and his rating, Agha is a proper No. 5 who wins matches for Pakistan once he gets in. The famine is the part to fix, and until he makes runs against Australia as well as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Pakistan will keep going hungry between the feasts.