Dubbed as Pakistan’s ‘crisis man’, Fawad Alam notched up an impressive century on day three of the 2nd Test match against West Indies on Sunday (August 22).
In a match severely affected by rainfall at Sabina Park in Kingston, Alam was forced to retire hurt at 76* with what looked like a cramp in his left leg on day one only to come back at the WIndies with a resilient innings scoring an undefeated 124 after having recovered courtesy of the stoppage in play due to rains.
The 35-year-old southpaw’s stunning effort put Pakistan completely on top of the game as the Asian giants declared at 302-9 at the end of day three. Alam made up for all the lost hundreds in a rush as he broke into a fist-bump and a sajdah to celebrate his ton against the Windies in Jamaica.
With 4 centuries in the last 8 months since Alam returned to Test cricket, he has made headlines all over the cricketing world by becoming the fastest Asian batsman to get to 5 international Test tons playing only his 13th Test for Pakistan after taking an 11-year hiatus from cricket.
He has notched up all of his five centuries in just eight Tests (including his century on debut) so far after being dropped by the team after just three matches.
Alam has eclipsed the likes of fellow Asian greats:
Vijay Hazare – 26 innings
Sunil Gavaskar – 25 innings
Sourav Ganguly – 25 innings
Cheteshwar Pujara – 24 innings
Fawad Alam – 22 innings
Interestingly, Alam has joined the elite list of batsmen on the back of scoring big runs against 5 different oppositions at 5 different cricket stadiums in the world:
PAK vs SL in Colombo
PAK vs NZ in Mount Maunganui
PAK vs SA in Karachi
PAK vs Zimbabwe in Harare
PAK vs WI in Kingston
Alam has proved his critics wrong time again with his sensational performances with the batt in the twilight of his career which was marred by not getting the chance to play for his country due to unreasonable criticism from the PCB despite his consistent performances in the domestic season every year.
Only England captain Joe Root (5) has scored more centuries than Alam (4) since his comeback to the team after ten years in red-ball cricket.
Here’s a look at how Twitterati showered praise over the Pakistani’s gritty century:
Pakistan legend Shoaib Akhtar lauded Alam’s effort on his YouTube channel by saying:
“He sincerely plays for Pakistan despite being out of the side for 11 years. Hats off to him. Fawad Alam is a genius.”
It will be an interesting watch to see who wins the Test in Kingston since the Windies lead the two-match series 1-0 after winning a tense first Test by one wicket.
