Sikander, Asad and Saqib Zulfiqar become cricket's first set of triplets

History was written at Amstelveen when Sikander Zulfiqar, Asad Zulfiqar and Saqib Zulfiqar were named in the Netherlands’ playing XI against United Arab Emirates (UAE) side in the first of the 3-match one-day series as the Zulfiqars became the first set of triplets to feature together in a professional cricket game.

Since the Netherlands-UAE game holds only List A status, the three brothers became the first set of triplets to feature in a professional game together. However, they might not take much time to become the first triplets set to play in an International game if they back their spot with some consistent performances.

The father Zulfiqar

The Zulfiqar triplets are the young ones of former Netherlands player Zulfiqar Ahmed, who represented them in various international fixtures between 1991 and 2002. Ahmed, who actually hails from Pakistan, represented Netherlands in 9 List A games including the 2000 ICC Trophy. He was born in Sialkot in 1966 and moved to Netherlands at an age of 21 in 1987 where he made his entry to domestic cricket in 1990.

The game was marked to be Asad and Saqib’s List A debut, their first ever appearance in a professional game as well with both of them yet to feature in a first-class or a T20 game. However, Sikander has three List A and a first-class appearance on his name for Netherlands prior to this match and featured in two T20 Internationals as well. The brothers might not have much to celebrate about their achievement as Netherlands were on the losing side with UAE chasing down the target of 183 runs set by the home side in 48.5 overs with 3 wickets in hand.

The debutants Asad and Saqib scored only 15 and 11 runs respectively but Sikander struck an unbeaten 41 off 56 balls along with captain Peter Borren who top scored for them with 56 as Netherlands posted 183/8 in their 50 overs. Though no two Zulfiqurs got a chance to bat together in the game, one of the three was present at the crease for more than 40 overs of the Netherlands’ innings.