Ryan Campbell became the oldest player to make his debut in T20I matches when he stepped into the field to play for Hong Kong against the Zimbabwe in the first match of group stage match. At the age of 44 years and 30 Days, he is the oldest player to achieve this rare feat.
Ryan Campbell has previously played 2 ODIs for Australia way back in 2002 against the New Zealand side. Opening the innings for his side he scored 38 runs in a losing cause as his team failed to achieve the target. He made his debut alongside recently retired star batsman Brendon Mccullum.
Campbell could not produce a magical innings yesterday as the batsman could only manage to score 9 runs and could not take any wicket. The Hong Kong side lost the match by 14 runs which bleaked the chances of his team to qualify for the next stage.
Campbell surpassed the record of Mohammad Tauqir of UAE who made his debut at the age of 43 years and 176 days against Scotland in 2015.
An experienced campaigner, Campbell has played 98 first class matches in which he have scored 6009 runs and in 105 List A appearances he has scored 2286 runs.
The former Indian batsmen Rahul Dravid is too in the list of oldest debutant in this format. Dravid made his debut in this format at the age of 38 years and 232 days against England. In the match, he smashed 3 back to back sixes off Samit Patel and showcased his talent in this format too.
Let’s have a look at list of oldest debutants in this format-
Ryan Campbell (Hong Kong) – 44y30d
Mohammad Tauqir (UAE) – 43y176d
Khurram Khan (UAE) – 42y 269d
Najeeb Amar (Hong Kong) – 42y 172d
Munir Dar (Hong Kong) – 40y 14d
Sunil Dhaniram (Canada) – 39y 290d
Rafatullah Mohmand (Pakistan) – 39y 20d
Sanjayan Thuraisingam (Canada) – 38y 326
Rahul Dravid (India) – 38y 232d
James Davison (Canada) – 38y 85d