Fawad Alam: A First Class legend and Test Cricket ace

Fawad Alam, son of the famous First Class cricketer Tariq Alam, was born on 08 October 1985 in Karachi. He made his FC debut when he was 17 years old in 2003. It was after 6 years, in 2009, when he made his test debut for Pakistan in a series against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He bagged his maiden test century in his first ever test match, scoring 168 in the fourth innings of the match. However, Pakistan went on to lose the match by 7 wickets. Unfortunately, he was dropped after two further tests: a hiatus that would extend for more than 10 years.

He was mocked for having an unorthodox batting stance but he never bothered about it and worked hard on his performance after being dropped out from the team for no ‘good’ reason.

In the subsequent years, Fawad Alam made a name for himself in the First Class circuit; he, for any Pakistani FC batter ever, holds the highest batting average. Moreover, no Pakistani has scored more FC runs than Fawad Alam in the years following the 2015-16 FC season. He averaged in high 50s and scored ‘40 HUNDREDS’ in FC cricket; a dream for many.

Despite scoring heavily, he was neglected by the selectors and coaches who considered him not suited for ‘international cricket’ blaming his unorthodox technique. The argument had no body, as no sensible person would render someone ill-suited for international cricket ignoring the heavy batting average of a batter in FC cricket. Performance after performance, but the wait for a call up to national team was becoming a tough reach.

Finally, he was called up in 2019 for a home series against Sri Lanka. He marked his return after a gap of 88 tests. Public outrage on social media and his own hard work had him back in the national team. Nonetheless, he wasn’t given a chance to play the series and warmed the bench only. He finally got his chance after almost a year in a match against England where he scored a four-ball duck. A century wait didn’t last long as he managed to score a valiant fourth innings century in Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) which secured an impossible draw for Pakistan. The series against New Zealand firmed his place in the national team.

What followed was a century in winning cause at home in a match against South Africa, a month after the New Zealand series; he scored a couple of century against Zimbabwe and West Indies in 2021. Also, he scored his first 50 in test match cricket against West Indies in addition to his previous five centuries.

Fawad Alam career got a second life, but one might wonder what his international numbers would have been like if he continued playing for the national team?