Kamran Ghulam made a statement on his Test debut with a brilliant century against England in the second Test match in Multan. Kamran replaced star player Babar Azam in the playing XI after the latter was dropped from the Test squad after his poor form in red-ball cricket. Ghulam had to wait for a long time to get a chance in the Pakistan team after he smashed a national record 1,249 runs in the 2020 domestic season, but Babar's rough patch in Test with no fifties in the last 18 innings paved the way for his entry into the squad.

Ghulam grabbed the opportunity and did what Babar had failed to do in recent times. He led the hosts' fightback after Jack Leach claimed early wickets to put Pakistan on the backfoot with 19/2 on the scoreboard.

Ghulam added 149 for the defiant third wicket with Saim Ayub, who hit a career-best 77, and another 65 for the fifth wicket with Rizwan. The 29-year-old tackled England's aggressive bowling and fielding to score 118.

Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was highly impressed with Ghulam for making an instant impact at international level.

"With all the talk about ”Babar” spare a thought for Kamran Ghulam, walks into a storm and makes a hundred. #PAKvENG," Ashwin wrote on X.

Babar Azam dropped from Test squad

Meanwhile, the PCB selection committee has lost faith in their former skipper Babar, who has been struggling with form in red-ball cricket. The star batter has not been able to breach the 50-run mark in the last 18 innings. In his last eight innings on home soil, where runs have flowed for others, Babar averages just 18.75, which forced the PCB to make a bold call to drop the former captain from the last two Tests against England.

Ghulam said his century was a reward for his wait.

"It is delightful to score a hundred and that too as a replacement for Babar Azam, who has been a great player for Pakistan," said Ghulam, who had a big letoff on 79 when Ben Duckett failed to get a difficult chance off Leach.

"I saw that with a bated breath but Almighty was so kind on me. "I just took it as a normal first-class match and never took the pressure of a bad start to the team's innings," said Ghulam.

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