Who Is Kamran Ghulam? Babar Azam’s replacement who smashed maiden Test ton against England

Babar Azam was axed from the Pakistan cricket team for the final two Test matches vs England. It was a huge news considering the 30-year-old is one of the best batters to come out of Pakistan in the last 3 decades. After the axing of Babar Azam, 29-year-old Kamran Ghulam has been given his debut cap for Pakistan in Test cricket. 

After years of toil, Kamran Ghulam got a chance to show his talents to a wider audience. Shan Masood when asked to comment about the debutant at the toss said, “It's very heartwarming, I know what it feels like to score runs in domestic cricket and still not make your way in the team. He's finally got a chance, we are behind him, hope he has a memorable debut”

Despite scoring over 4000 runs in the first-class format and having played for over 11 years, Ghulam didn't get a spot in the national team. After the loss in the 1st Test, PCB decided to go for the jugular and took a few hard decisions. It was very much needed as the Pakistani team hadn’t won a Test at home for over 3 years. Kamran made the most of the opportunity and smashed his maiden Test ton in the ongoing 2nd Test against England. The right-handed batter was dismissed after scoring 118 runs.

Also Watch: Jack Leach bowls tremendous delivery to outfox Abdullah Shafique in 2nd Test match vs Pakistan

Kamran Ghulam: From Concussion sub to Test player status

Young Kamran Ghulam made his Pakistani debut in the most dramatic fashion in 2023. That came against New Zealand during the 3rd ODI against New Zealand in January of that year. Haris Sohail’s injury meant that Kamran Ghulam made his debut for Pakistan as a concussion substitute when New Zealand were batting. 

After that uneventful debut, the young batter was back grinding it out in the domestic circuit with his local side. An opportunity arose when PCB announced Kamran as the skipper for Pakistan A for the series against Bangladesh A. The A team also had names like Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Saud Shakeel. 

Just 54 runs were scored by the right-handed batter but there was more luck coming his way. PCB had organized a local ODI tournament called the Champions One-Day Cup 2024. Playing for the Markhors team, Kamran Ghulam scored 250 runs from 6 matches with 2 centuries. 

This turned the tide towards his favor and soon Kamran was knocking on the door of selection for the national side. in the domestic format, the 29-year-old had played 59 matches and scored 4377 runs with an average of under 50. His best of 166 is one of the 16 centuries along with 20 half-centuries to show his conversion rate. 

The debutant has made his mark in a terrific fashion as he went past 50 in his debut innings. His first boundary in Test cricket was a six off Jack Leach who had dismissed Pakistan’s two batters to fall before lunch. If he can be as consistent for Pakistan as he was during his first-class career, Kamran Ghulam may just be the answer to his side’s troubles.