Nasser Hussain: “He had to wait his turn. He’s been scoring prolific runs in the last three years. He got the right balance between attack and defence”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former England captain Nasser Hussain admitted that Pakistan batsman Kamran Ghulam “had to wait his turn” despite being a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket for three years.
After toiling so hard, Ghulam finally made his Test debut in the recent three-match series against England.
He was included in the playing XI for the second Test in Multan and didn’t disappoint as he struck a magnificent 118, which came off 224 balls and included 11 boundaries and a six.
The Upper Dir native was also selected for the third Test in Rawalpindi and ended up finishing the series with 147 runs at an average of 49.
Hussain was impressed with what he saw from Ghulam, pointing out that the 29-year-old has the “right balance between attack and defence”.
“He had to wait his turn. He’s been scoring prolific runs in the last three years. He got the right balance between attack and defence,” he said on Sky Cricket as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Ghulam has seen more opportunities come his way since his dazzling debut as he featured in Pakistan’s ODI series against Australia, where he only batted once in three games and scored five runs.
In the ODIs against Zimbabwe, he spent more time at the crease and amassed 120 runs, which included a career-best 103, at an average of 60.
As for the three-match ODI series against South Africa, Ghulam finished with 67 runs, which included a top score of 63, at an average of 22.33.
He then featured in the two-Test series against the Proteas and scored 98 runs, which included a top score of 54, at an average of 24.50.
Pakistan just finished playing a two-Test series against the West Indies in Multan and Ghulam didn’t do as well, being restricted to 67 runs at an average of 16.75.
The series ended as a 1-1 draw.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha