Shoaib Akhtar: “Kamran Ghulam played for the team, his hundred was fantastic. Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali also played for one goal only, and that was to win this match for Pakistan. They did not want to cement their place in the team, they just wanted to win”
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Pakistan pace bowling icon Shoaib Akhtar has praised middle order batsman Kamran Ghulam and the spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan for playing for win.
All three of them played instrumental roles to help Pakistan triumph 2-1 in their recent three-Test series against England.
Ghulam made his debut in the second Test and stamped his authority with a magnificent knock of 118, which came off 224 balls and included 11 boundaries and a six.
Noman took 20 wickets in two matches, which included two five-wicket hauls, at an average of 13.85, while Sajid claimed 19 wickets, which also included two five-fors, at an average of 21.10.
Akhtar pointed out that all three of them didn’t prioritise cementing their spots in the Test team as they were instead more concerned about leading Pakistan to victory.
“Kamran Ghulam played for the team, his hundred was fantastic. Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali also played for one goal only, and that was to win this match for Pakistan. They did not want to cement their place in the team, they just wanted to win,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After the England Tests, Ghulam played in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia, which consisted of three ODIs and three T20Is.
In the ODI series, he only batted once and made five runs.
As for the T20Is, he did not feature in any of the games.
Following their tour of Australia, Pakistan travelled to Zimbabwe and Ghulam struck 120 runs in three ODIs, which included a career-best knock of 103, at an average of 60.
Once again, he did not play in the T20I series.
Next up for Pakistan will be a tour of South Africa, which will comprise three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
The T20I series will start on December 10, while the ODI and Test series will begin on December 17 and December 26 respectively.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
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