Birthday special: Fawad Alam – A fairytale story of the comeback
There are late bloomers, and then there is Fawad Alam. The Pakistani middle-order batter made his debut for the national side in 2007 but was lost in anonymity for more than a decade before making a scorching comeback in red-ball cricket. The 36-year-old has become an indispensable asset for the Pakistani team in the traditional form of the game and is going from strength to strength for the national team. On the eve of his 37th birthday, we list some of his most memorable outings for the Asian giants.
109 against South Africa, 2021
Karachi hosted the first Test between Pakistan and South Africa in 2021. The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first in the series opener. The Proteas were restricted to a below-par total in their first innings, scoring 220 runs. The hosts in their reply stumbled at the start of the innings and were staring down the barrel after the scoreboard read 27/4. That is when Fawad Alam put his hand for the Asian side, compiling a combative century to push Pakistan to 378 runs in their 1st innings. The Pakistani bowlers then restricted South Africa to 245 runs in the second innings. The hosts won the game by seven wickets and Fawad Alam was named the player of the match.
124* against West Indies, 2021
Pakistan traveled to Jamaica for the second Test of the series against West Indies and were put into bat first by the hosts. The subcontinent side made an abysmal start to the match, losing three of their top batters at the score of just two runs. West Indies were looking for an early finish to the innings, but Fawad Alam along with his skipper Babar Azam held the fort for the visitors with a substantial partnership of 166 runs. Fawad registered an unbeaten 124 to take Pakistan to 302 runs after that horror start. The visitors went on to win the game by 109 runs thanks to some sensational bowling from Shaheen Afridi, who scalped ten wickets in the match.
168 runs against Sri Lanka, 2009
Sri Lanka welcomed Pakistan for the second Test match of the series in Colombo. The visitors opted to bat first after winning the toss, a decision that came back to bite them as they were restricted to a paltry total of 90 runs in their first innings. Sri Lanka registered a decent total of 240 runs in their reply, pushing the visitors on the back foot. Pakistan made a strong start to their second innings in hopes of securing a positive result. Fawad Alam, who was making his debut in red-ball cricket, had a dream outing, registering his maiden century in just his second innings. He finished with 168 runs to his name, but it wasn’t enough in the end as Sri Lanka won the game by seven wickets.
