29-year-old Kamran Ghulam had a memorable Test debut for Pakistan as the right-hander went on to score a hundred in his maiden Test against England. Coming as a replacement for Babar Azam, who was released from Pakistan’s squad for the second and third Test against England, Kamran took full advantage of the opportunity and scored a hundred on Day 1 of the ongoing first Test against England in Multan. The right-hander got out after scoring 118 runs off 224 balls. With this, Ghulam also became the 14th Pakistani cricketer to score a hundred in Test debut.
After losing the first Test against England, despite scoring 556 runs in the first innings, Pakistan took some bold decisions by releasing some of their key players from the squad for the remaining two Test matches. Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah were dropped from the squad, and players like Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Ali and Sajid Khan came as replacements. Kamran Ghulam finally got a chance to make his debut in the Test and came to bat number 4, which was Babar Azam’s batting position before.
Kamran Ghulam - Saim Ayub added 149 runs after early wickets
Coming to bat first after winning the toss, Pakistan didn’t get a great start as the hosts lost two wickets for just 19 runs in 9.4 overs. Abdulllah Shafique (7 off 28) was the first batter to get dismissed at the score of 15 runs, as Jack Leach cleared his stumps. A couple of overs later, skipper Shan Masood (3 off 7) also lost his wicket to Jack Leach. After that, Saim Ayub and debutant Kamran Ghulam took charge of the innings as the duo went on to put a 149-run partnership for the third wicket.
Saim Ayub got out after a well-made 77 runs off 160 balls with seven boundaries. Pakistan lost their third wicket at the score of 168 runs in 56 overs. After a few overs, Saud Shakeel (4 off 14) also got out cheaply at the score of 178 runs. After that, Kamran Ghulam was joined by Mohammad Rizwan as the duo took the innings forward. Ghulam made his debut match memorable by scoring a hundred in 192 balls. The right-hander scored 11 fours and a maximum in his knock of 224 balls.
