Pakistan’s Kamran Ghulam (R) plays a shot as England’s wicketkeeper Jamie Smith looks on during the first day of the second Test cricket match between Pakistan and England. (Image: AFP)
Many former Pakistan cricketers and players across the globe gave their initial reaction on social media hailing the 29-year-old for his fantastic innings under pressure.
Pakistan breathed a sigh of relief after they had something positive to look at with the debutant Kamran Ghulam scoring his maiden ton to fight back against England in the first day of the second Test against England on Tuesday.
Many former Pakistan cricketers and players across the globe gave their initial reaction on social media hailing the 29-year-old for his fantastic innings under pressure.
His knock was not an easy one. The pitch in Multan which was the same used in the previous Test had a lot to offer for the bowlers. After Pakistan’s top-order collapse, it was on Ghulam along with opening batter Saim Ayub to pull the strings. They managed to stitch a 149-run partnership following which, Ayub was dismissed.
But Ghulam kept his side of the runs flowing despite all the pressure that was on him with the batter replacing the senior man Babar Azam in the side and whatnot. But he eventually kept going and was finally dismissed on 118 runs to end his fine knock as Pakistan closed out the day on 259/5 at stumps on Day 1.
The Indian spin-bowling maestro, Ravichandran Ashwin had nothing but appreciation for the debutant to come in and score the way he did despite the pressure of replacing Babar Azam.
With all the talk about”Babar” spare a thought for Kamran Ghulam, walks into a storm and makes a hundred. #PAKvENG— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) October 15, 2024
The Pakistan pacer, Naseem Shah who has been dropped for the second and third Test took to social media to congratulate Ghulam on him reaping the benefits of his hard work and dedication.
The former Team Director of Pakistan’s senior men’s team who had infamously called out the PCB for not picking Ghulam earlier had a short yet sweet post for Ghulam, congratulating the batter on his fine milestone.
The former Pakistan opening batter, Ahmed Shahzad, also took to social media to finally talk after asking the PCB publically why Ghulam wasn’t selected in the squad against England. He hailed the stellar knock by the 29-year-old on X.
The former Indian cricketer-turned-pundit, Aakash Chopra had suggested that one man’s loss is another man’s opportunity and hailed Ghulam for his splendid display in Multan.
One man’s loss is another man’s opportunity. Replacing Babar in the playing XI is guaranteed to draw disproportionate attention and scrutiny.Kamran Ghulam, making his Test debut at 29, scores a century. — Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 15, 2024
Given the circumstances and the noise surrounding his test match debut, that’s a knock of some courage and skill from Kamran Ghulam. Century on test debut is a dream come through.— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) October 15, 2024
The former West Indies pacer, Ian Bishop also had positive things to say about Ghulam’s knock, particularly the context with which his debut came about.
