Fawad Tariq Alam (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and actor who plays for

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and the

Pakistan national cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...

. He made his international debut for Pakistan in May 2007. He returned to Pakistan's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

team after a gap of 88 Tests and more than 10 years, this being the second longest gap by a Pakistani in Test cricket after

Younis Ahmed Mohammad Younis Ahmed (born 20 October 1947) is a Pakistani former first-class cricketer who played in four Test matches and two One Day Internationals between 1969 and 1987. Primarily a middle-order batsman, he played first-class cricket f ...

's 104 Tests gap. He was surprisingly overlooked from being selected to the Pakistan test cricket team for over a decade despite being a prolific run scorer in domestic first-class matches. With respect to career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, Fawad is among the all-time top 50 batsmen in first-class cricket; he is the sole Pakistani on the list. Born in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Fawad plays primarily as a left-handed batter, but also bowls

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...

. After not playing international cricket for more than 10 years for Pakistan, he played returned to Test cricket against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in August 2020. He is also known for his

Ertuğrul Bey Ertuğrul or Ertuğrul Gazi ( ota, ارطغرل, Erṭoġrıl; tk, ; died ) was a 13th century bey, who was the father of Osman I. Little is known about Ertuğrul's life. According to Ottoman Empire, Ottoman tradition, he was the son of Sule ...

-type signature style celebration, which he emulated from the Turkish historical drama series Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

Early life and family

Fawad comes from a cricketing family and was born to a Pakistani first-class cricketer,

Tariq Alam Tariq Alam (born 30 May 1956) is a former Pakistani first-class cricketer. He played for the House Building Finance Corporation cricket team from 1978/79 until 1993/94. His son Fawad Alam, is a Test cricket, Test and ODI cricketer for Pakistan. E ...

. His paternal uncle, Rafat Alam, and his maternal uncle, Waheed Mirza, played first-class cricket for Pakistan. He is also a cousin of the English Test cricketer,

Usman Afzaal Usman Afzaal (born 9 June 1977) is a Pakistani born English cricketer who has played three Test matches for England, all against Australia in 2001. He is a left-handed middle order batsman and occasional left arm slow bowler. He started his f ...

. In November 2011, Fawad married the daughter of former Pakistan Test cricketer, Mansoor Akhtar in Karachi.

Career

After Pakistan's disappointing World Cup campaign, Fawad was drafted into a 16-man squad for a

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) series against Sri Lanka in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. On debut, he was out for a first ball

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

. His second ODI was a better experience as he contributed 32 unbeaten runs down the order as Pakistan beat

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

by 31 runs in

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

. In between those two matches, Fawad travelled to South Africa as part of Pakistan's squad for the

2007 ICC World Twenty20 The 2007 ICC World Twenty20 was the inaugural Twenty20 International cricket world championship, contested in South Africa from 11 to 24 September 2007. Twelve teams took part in the thirteen-day tournament—the ten Test-playing nations and the ...

tournament. He played in the semi-final, taking two wickets against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, as Pakistan progressed to the final, for which he was not selected. In the Asia Cup, in June 2008, he scored his maiden international half century against Hong Kong. He was subsequently dropped for the Sri Lanka series in January 2009. In October 2008, Fawad was selected for the quadrangular

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

tournament to be played in Canada between

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and hosts

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In the fourth match of the tournament, he hit 23 not out from just eight balls with three sixes and took a wicket. In the next match against Zimbabwe, he took three wickets for seven runs from 3 overs.

2010

Fawad was picked to tour England in 2010. He played club cricket in England to help himself get used to the conditions. Fawad scored well in the first two matches but his major breakthrough came in the third ODI when he increased his top score to 64. He retained his place for the ODI series against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. After scoring 123 runs in the five-match series, he was subsequently dropped from the ODI team and later that year, lost his place in the T20 team after the tour to New Zealand.

Asia Cup 2014: Return

After being dropped from all formats for three and a half years, Fawad's impressive displays domestically (most notably being the top run scorer in the President's One Day Trophy in the season 2013/14) earned him a recall to the national side for the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

in 2014. His first match after his recall was against the host team

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, deputising for the injured

Sharjeel Khan Sharjeel Khan ( ur, شرجیل خان; born 14 August 1989)
cricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2010 is a Paki ...

. He contributed significantly to the team's victory, scoring 74 runs from 70 balls in a competitive chase of 326. He continued his form by scoring his maiden international ODI hundred (114 not out) against Sri Lanka in the final, rescuing his side from 18/3 to 260/5 with the help of

Misbah-ul-Haq ; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan in all formats and is former head coach and former chief selector of the Pakistan national team. A late bloomer, Misbah was a midd ...

and

Umar Akmal Umar Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 26 May 1990) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2009 and 2019. He was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for eighteen months for not disclosing offers related to spot ...

. His effort was not enough though as Sri Lanka successfully chased the target to become the champions of the 2014 Asia Cup.

2017 onwards

In 2017, Fawad signed to play as a professional for Clitheroe Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. In April 2018, he was named the vice-captain of

's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup. In March 2019, he was named in

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

's squad for the

2019 Pakistan Cup The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...

. In September 2019, Fawad was named in

's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.

Test career

In July 2009, Fawad became the first Pakistani cricketer to score a Test century on debut away from home, and the tenth to score a century on debut, scoring 168 runs in the second innings of the second Test against

. In a partnership of 200 runs with captain

Younus Khan Mohammad Younis Khan PP SI (Urdu: ; Pashto: ; born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani professional cricket coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all three formats of the game, and is widely regarded as ...

for the second wicket, the pair broke the previous record of 151 runs between Mohsin Khan and Majid Khan at Lahore in 1981–82. It was also highest partnership for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. However, just two Test matches later, he was dropped from the team. In December 2019, after a gap of more than ten years, Fawad was named in Pakistan's Test squad, for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka. He received his call-up to national test side after his consistent performances at first-class level and by the time he received a call-up after a gap of over a decade, he had already scored over 8000 runs with 26 centuries and with a stellar average of 56.48 in first-class cricket. In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In July 2020, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. In August 2020, Fawad played in the second Test against England, after a gap of 10 years and 258 days since his last Test match appearance. In the first innings, he faced four balls before being dismissed for a

. In December 2020, Fawad was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their away series against New Zealand. In the first Test, he scored his first Test hundred after more than 11 years, a gap of 4,218 days between the two. It was the longest period only behind after

Warren Bardsley Warren "Curly" Bardsley (6 December 1882 – 20 January 1954) was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales. He was Wisden's Cricketer of ...

's 5,093 and Syed Mushtaq Ali's 4,544 days. He also emulated Ertugrul Gazi's popular celebration style which he copied from one of the popular scenes which featured in the 2014 Turkish drama series ''Diriliş: Ertuğrul'' after scoring a test century against New Zealand. In January 2021, Fawad was named in Pakistan's 17 man Test squad for their home series against South Africa. In the 1st Test, Fawad scored 109, sharing a century partnership with

Faheem Ashraf Faheem Ashraf ( ur, ; born 16 January 1994) is a Pakistani international cricketer who represents the national side and plays first-class cricket for Habib Bank Limited. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central ...

. On 30 April 2021, Fawad became the first Asian cricketer to convert his first four test 50s into 100s. He achieved this milestone during the first Test match against Zimbabwe. In August 2021, he continued his fine form further by scoring another century during the second test against West Indies at

Sabina Park Sabina Park is a cricket ground and the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, and is the only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica. History Sabina Park was originally a Pen (urban residence and adjoining land of a wealthy merchant, shopkeep ...

. He also became the fastest Pakistani as well as fastest Asian batsman to reach five Test centuries in term of innings (22) surpassing the previous record of 24 innings held by India's

Cheteshwar Pujara Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara (born 25 January 1988) is an Indian international cricketer who plays Test cricket for India and represents Saurashtra in domestic cricket. He is a right-handed batter and is known for his disciplined batting style. ...

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Fawad 1985 births Living people Cricketers from Karachi Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Cricketers who made a century on Test debut Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Pakistan Customs cricketers Sindh cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Karachi Dolphins cricketers Karachi Kings cricketers Duronto Rajshahi cricketers Sui Southern Gas Company cricketers