Fawad Alam

Fawad Alam finally made a comeback to the Pakistan Test team 11 years after he was excluded from the team in November 2009. Alam, 34, was named in the Playing XI in the Southampton Test in place of Shadab Khan. This is the fourth Test match of his career.

The stylish left-handed batsman became the 25th such cricketer to make another Test appearance after waiting for at least 10 years. He is also the second Pakistan player to do so after Younis Ahmed, who played 17 years after his previous Test in 1987.

Highest batting average in first-class cricket since December 2009 – when Fawad Alam last played Tests for Pakistan pic.twitter.com/PaHS3laW3p

— Richard V Isaacs (@RVICricketStats) August 13, 2020

Fawad, who is the son of popular first-class cricketer Tariq Alam, made his debut at the age of 17. Even though he was consistent in domestic cricket and featured in the U-19 World Cup, it took him 11 years to appear in International Test cricket for Pakistan.

Alam made headlines with his consistent performances in first-class cricket, scoring a double century in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019 for Sindh against Southern Punjab but was ignored for the Australia series in November-December 2019 by coach Misbah-ul-Haq.

The last time Fawad Alam played a Test for Pakistan (in November 2009) Gordon Brown was UK Prime Minister, Italy held the football World Cup, Novak Djokovic had only won one Grand Slam title (he now has 17) & Lewis Hamilton had one F1 title (he now has six). #ENGvPAK

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) August 13, 2020

Former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was playing alongside Alam in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy where the two had shared a match-saving 278-run partnership for the fifth wicket, said that Alam never complained to him despite getting ignored by selectors on several occasions.