Kamran Ghulam has made history in the ongoing second test between Pakistan and England at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The Pakistan selection committee made a bold decision when they dropped Babar Azam along with Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed from the squad for the second and third tests against England. The PCB faced a lot of criticism for dropping their premier batter, Babar Azam.
It was 29-year-old Kamran Ghulam whom Pakistan picked as the replacement for Babar in the playing XI at no. 4. And on Day 1 of the second test, Kamran has repaid the faith shown to him and registered his name in the record books. The debutant went on to slam a terrific century to script history and showed the world that he belongs to this level.
Babar Azam’s replacement Kamran Ghulam smashes debut ton in second Test in Multan
The century came at a crucial phase as he joined the crease when Pakistan were struggling at 19/2. He added a game-changing 149-run partnership with Saim Ayub (77) for the third wicket, which took Pakistan to a good position. After the partnership was broken, the debutant also added a 65-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan for the fifth wicket.
The 29-year-old reached his century with a boundary and raised his bat. With this, he became the second-oldest Pakistani batter to score a debut century in test cricket. He reached the landmark off 192 balls and cashed in the opportunity provided to him by the management.
The 29-year-old has been knocking at the doors of the selectors with consistent performance at the domestic level. Before today, he played 59 FC games and scored 4377 runs at an average of 49.17 with 16 centuries and 20 half-centuries. He has been part of the team for a couple of series but didn’t get a chance to make his debut. But Pakistan backed him, and he responded pretty well.
He scored a pretty 118 off 224 balls, with 11 fours and one six. Pakistan finished the first day at 259/5. With his century, Kamran Ghulam also became only the second batter to score a debut century for Pakistan, batting at no. 4. Saleem Malik did it in 1982 against Sri Lanka in Karachi, and Ghulam became only the second batter after 42 years. Overall, he is the sixth batter with a debut hundred at No. 4 and the 13th Pakistani batter with a debut hundred.
As an enthusiastic cricket fan, I relish watching matches from around the globe. Since childhood, I've admired the gentleman's game and aspired to pursue a career in the sports industry. A hardcore Virat Kohli fan, I'm dedicated to crafting engaging and concise cricket articles.
