Fawad Alam returned to the international circuit after a stretch of three years and proved his mettle in the Asia Cup. PHOTO: AFP
A seemingly forgotten entity until recently, Fawad Alam was finally given his due for his consistent domestic performance over three years as the national selectors recalled him for the Asia Cup.
The 28-year-old justified his selection, hitting brilliant knocks of 74 against Bangladesh and an unbeaten 114 in the final against Sri Lanka in the tournament.
In doing so, he became Pakistan’s first left-handed middle-order batsman to score a century in the 50-over format.
Fawad’s comeback in international cricket came after December 2010, where he featured in a Twenty20 game against New Zealand.
After that, although his batting performance remained consistent in domestic seasons, he remained sidelined from the national team for three years.
“Years of isolation from Pakistan team gave me the courage to fight,” Fawad told The Express Tribune in an interview, referring to his knocks in the Asia Cup.
The batsman was not the top choice for the team management and was only selected in the playing eleven after opener Sharjeel Khan sustained an injury.
“I knew that I will not get opportunities like this. After all, the chance came to me after a lot of hard work.
“I was going through very difficult times [prior to the Asia Cup]. At times, I used to feel disheartened when I was not preferred despite my hard work. However, I am fortunate to have people around who supported me in those tough times.
“I know the value of wearing the national colours and did not want to waste the chance. I made all-out efforts to lift my team but it is unfortunate that my innings could not help Pakistan win the final.”
The batsman added that head coach Moin Khan and captain Misbahul Haq were very supportive.
“Scoring like that after a long time would not have been possible without their assistance.
“Moin was a fighting player and his guidance made a lot of difference while Misbah’s advice at the crease was a huge help too.”
Misbah content with overall performance
Misbah, along with other team members, returned home from the UAE yesterday.
Speaking to reporters at the Lahore airport, the Pakistan captain expressed satisfaction over the team’s overall performance in the Asia Cup.
“Losing the final was disappointing, but I am satisfied with the performance in the tournament,” he said.
“It was a tough tournament for the fast-bowlers because there was little assistance for them. However, we are returning with a lot of positives.”
The captain appeared irked with criticism on his slow-pace batting.
“Ask critics what should be the approach when you lose three quick wickets in the start. All the world’s best teams adopt the same approach to recover from such a situation.”
The Test and One-Day International captain hoped Pakistan would do well in the upcoming World Twenty20, saying the team has the momentum ahead of the event.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (26)
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A very good display by Fawad and Misbah. There is nothing wrong in their batting. Well it is true that Fawad is short of stamina and big hitting powers. Big hitting powers I mean that even Misbah plays slow but he can hit sixes almost at his will whereas Fawad cannot. His batting style and ability are all good, all he needs is to make-up some big-hitting techniques. For this, he can take help of Misbah, Umer Akmal or Shahid Afridi. Cheers!
Oh come on! You, like all other's want to make names in Big bashes and possible IPL in future (if any). Dont fool the nation with patriotism slogan talks. We already have our leaders to do that!
Fawad played like a star in the tournament! If he would have gone out with an aggressive attitude it would have culminated in the same 1999 worldcup disaster when no one was able to stay on the crease for more than a few balls and we ended with a laughable 132 on the board. Please learn to respect your stars! Kudos to Fawad ! Keep up the good work!
...but he seriously needs to see a barber ;-)
Misbah Feeling very much relax with the recent inclusion of Fawad Alam. Now Misbah performance will be more productive for Pakistan in future.
@Honest Indian (USA):
He had to work twice as hard to get where he is because he's a middle-class kid who doesn't have any connections as well as the fact that he's an Urdu speaker from Karachi. The team selectors have a strong pro-Punjab bias, sad but true.
fawad bated well in final stop criticizing him for no reasons.he is an amazing talent unlike shoaib malik and kamran akmal
For all you people criticizing Fawad please note we were 3 down for 18 runs and going for runs quickly was a tough call. Instead of making the fun of Fawad you should ask the three Batsmen why they did play up to the potential and put the team in such misery. and later on Umer Gul was the man who after playing so many years still don't know how to ball full and straight rather throwing "tappa baals"
For the people bashing their slow pace, listen up. If they wouldn't have batted like that, they wouldn't have achieved 260 odd runs. They probably would have ended under 200 with many overs to spare. Misbah and Fawad provided with the stand that was required with all the top order out. Umar Akmal and Afridi like to hit, they wouldn't have managed to score runs if further wickets would have fallen.
For the people bashing their slow pace, listen up. If they wouldn't have batted like that, they wouldn't have achieved 260 odd runs. They probably would have ended under 200 with many overs to spare. Misbah and Fawad provided with the stand that was required with all the top order out. Umar Akmal and Afridi like to hit, with the mounting pressure of falling wickets left and right, they wouldn't have managed to score runs.
Get ready to be dropped again. You have great averages and this country selects cricketers like Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and likes. Why would we not demand that all selected players meet a min standard like professional colleges? Great performance congratulations. What a shame that there would be some who would still not like your performance.
He played well. He deserves a pat on the back.
@Zillae - seriously?do you even understand cricket? Fawad Alam played two life saving knocks for Pakistan.
He first scored 74 off 70 balls at a SR of 106 against BD. After Afridi got out, Pak still needed 33 off 21 and Pak could have screwed the game there. but he hit two mighty sixes to take all the pressure off and bring it down to a run a ball.
In the final, he scored 114 off 134 at a SR of 86 - Akmal and Fawad added 100 runs in the last 10.what more do you want from this brilliant run scorer?
We lost the final because of pathetic pace bowling and fielding. Spin did the work but you can't expect to win by dropping Thiramanne twice.
Earlier we have only Misbah as a tuk tuk...now we have two. Fawad and Misbah played more than 36 overs at a snail's pace and left Afridi with two balls to play. What a shame. He could have retired hurt erlier so a to give Afridi a few balls to play. Fawad seems to be more interested in completing his century, also the gesture after the century was a bit snobish. Misbah should retire from one day cricket at the earliest. Pakistan won against India and bangladesh as he could not waste 90 plus deliveries on the match...Pakistan won because he got run out inboth the matches.
Dear Fawad, sorry to break out the news for you but we lost due to 22 overs, 5 maidens, 36 runs.
Misbah is not a winning captain. If he's satisfied with the type of performance the team put in, with lose extras, bad fielding and dropped catches, then he is surely not aiming to win the WC2015.
Let me guess Fawad Alam is a regular lad with no family connections? This is the sad reality of Cricket in sub-continent. We demand patriotism and excellence but don't give spots to deserving players. Nepotism is rife in the sub-continent.
Dont cheer too much u and Misbah were the reasons for defeat with snail pace innings