Debutant Kamran Ghulam scored a resolute century on a tricky recycled wicket and carried Pakistan to 259-5 at stumps on Day 1 of the second test against England on Tuesday.
Ghulam answered Pakistan ‘s batting problems at No. 4 with a patient 118 off 224 balls. He became the 13th Pakistan batsman to score a century on test debut and is the first to do so against England.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir (1-66) broke through Ghulam’s defenses late in the final session when he tickled the leg bail with the second new ball just four overs old.
Mohammad Rizwan, who could have been out caught behind early but England didn’t go for the television referral, was unbeaten on 37 and first test century-maker Salman Ali Agha was 5 not out at stumps.
The 29-year-old Ghulam had long been knocking at the doors of test cricket with 16 first class centuries before he was finally given a chance after Pakistan left out Babar Azam for the remaining two matches of the series because of his lean patch in red-ball cricket.
“ Babar Azam is a legend, but on the back of my mind I was thinking to give my 110%,” Ghulam said. “I had waited for four years after scoring consistently in first class cricket. I wasn’t worried about the wicket or the opposition, I just desperately wanted to get a chance and perform.” Ghulam reached his memorable century off 192 balls in the final session when he drove Joe Root to mid-wicket boundary for his ninth four. He knelt down and kissed the turf.
England squeezed the runs early in the final session through some impeccable reverse swing of Brydon Carse (1-14 in 11 overs) and Matthew Potts (1-36 in 17 overs) as Pakistan lost Saud Shakeel cheaply when the left-hander got a thick edge off Carse.
Jack Leach (2-92) had taken two wickets inside the first 45 minutes to give Pakistan an early shock at 19-2 after captain Shan Masood won the toss and elected to bat on a dry wicket tailor-made for Pakistan’s spin-heavy bowling attack.
Ghulam blunted the spin of Leach and Bashir by combining in a 149-run stand with Saim Ayub, who raised his third half century in the last four test matches and made 77.
“There was pressure when I walked out to bat because we had lost two quick wickets,” Ghulam said. “The ball was reversing good and it was also keeping low, but I was focused to do well and played with a positive frame of mind.” England captain Ben Stokes, back after two months out injured, kept on pressing for the breakthrough with an umbrella field in front of both sides of the wicket. It was without success before Ayub chipped an easy catch to Stokes at short mid-off at the stroke of tea interval.
But Ghulam didn’t feel the pressure and waited patiently for the loose balls to hit 11 fours and a six in his memorable debut before he was undone by Bashir.
Earlier, Leach knocked back the off-stump of Abdullah Shafique (7) in his second over and Masood (3) fell to the trap of close-in fielders when Zak Crawley pounced on a low catch at short mid-wicket.
England deployed both spinners with the new ball after just five overs after Pakistan opted to reuse the same wicket on which it suffered a historic innings and 47-run defeat in the first test last week.
Potts, one of the two changes made by England, and Carse, virtually found no seam movement or swing on a dry wicket before Stokes turned to his spinners and even Root bowled two overs of off-spin before lunch.
Ghulam struck a straight six against Leach in a show of rare aggression.
Stokes, who missed England’s 2-1 win at home against Sri Lanka and also last week’s victory in Multan, replaced Chris Woakes. Fast bowler Gus Atkinson made way for Potts.
Pakistan , which is on an 11-match winless streak at home, made four changes after it became the first test-playing nation to lose a match by an innings after scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings.
Four senior players, including out-of-form Babar, were rested for the remaining two tests of the series. The spin trio of Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood, who haven’t played first-class cricket for nine months, were included in the playing XI with Agha and Ayub the other spin options for Pakistan .
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