Right-handed Pakistan batter Kamran Ghulam made an incredible debut in Test cricket and went on to score a century against England in the second Test of the 3-match series in Multan.
Ghulam, who was brought in as the replacement of star batter Babar Azam, came out to bat when Pakistan was in a nervy situation at 19/2 with experienced batters Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood already dismissed.
He formed a massive stand alongside Saim Ayub to take the hosts over the 150-run mark. Though Ayub would lose his wicket on 77, Ghulam would go on to form a solid stand with Mohammad Rizwan and would reach his century during the final session of the first day.
Ghulam played some brilliant shots throughout his knock and showed immense maturity on tough situations as well. Ultimately, the 29-year-old’s innings would be brought to an end by England spinner Shoaib Bashir in the 85th over for 118 runs off 224 deliveries.
If he ends up performing well in the second innings as well, then Babar’s number 4 spot can very well be in danger for Pakistan’s Test series in the future. Babar may not be permanently dropped from the squad, but his batting spot can very well be snapped by Ghulam.
Interestingly, this is only Ghulam’s second international match for the Men in Green. He first made his ODI debut back in January, 2023 in a match against New Zealand in Karachi. However, since then the batter hasn’t featured in any of Pakistan’s one-day matches. He has also never made an appearance for the Men in Green in the shortest format.
Ghulam was expected to make his Test debut in Pakistan’s recently-concluded Test series against Bangladesh, however the PCB instead sent him along with Abrar Ahmed to play for the Pakistan Shaheens. He was finally given his chance in the second England Test.
The 29-year-old hasn’t had a short cricket career as he made his first-class debut back in 2013 for Abbottabad and has also featured for the Pakistan U-19 team. In 59 first-class matches, Ghulam has scored 4377 runs at an average of 49.17 and highest score of 166.
As far as List A matches go, Ghulam has featured on 94 occasions, scoring 3344 runs at an average of 42.32 and highest score of 123*
Ghulam has also played quite a lot of franchise cricket, featuring for sides likes of Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League. He has played a total of 73 T20 matches, scoring 1510 runs at an average of 27.96 and highest score of 110*.
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