Islamabad, OCT 15
Kamran Ghulam has never made any attempt to hide his desperation. All he wanted to do was play international cricket, and he would wait as long as it took. On Tuesday, 11 years on from his first-class debut, as he sat in front of the media after becoming the 13th Pakistani to score a hundred on Test debut, it is that burning desire he repeatedly recalled.
“I’d been waiting for my chance a long time but I never gave up,” Ghulam, 29, said. “I had been waiting for my chance. That’s all I thought about. I kept being selected and then omitted from squads, and all I used to think about was how to take the chance I’d been given.”
That thinking has paid off well. Ghulam came into the side under huge pressure as he replaced Babar Azam. The stakes were further raised by the situation he walke out to – Pakistan were 19 for 2, having lost Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique cheaply as the England spinners threatened to run riot.
“When I came to the wicket we’d lost two wickets. But I wanted to play with a positive mind like I do in first-class cricket. That was at the back of my mind, and I wanted to play my natural game.”
And Ghulam’s domestic oeuvre is particularly hefty. Only 12 players have scored more runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy since he made his debut in 2013, with his average, a smidge under 50, placing him behind only Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel and Usman Salahuddin.
It was what he drew on as he negotiated a tricky opening session, banking his aggressive shots before lunch, and setting the platform for a 149-run partnership with Saim Ayub that gently eased England’s grip on the game. He hung around when Ayub fell, building up another 65-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan, one in which he brought up his century with a slap over midwicket off Joe Root. By the time he fell, missing a drive off Shoaib Bashir who cleaned him up, he’d scored 118: his 17th first-class hundred.
“I’ve scored a lot of first-class runs,” Ghulam said. “I didn’t care about the venue or the team, I just needed to make my debut. I knew I had a lot of hard work behind me, and thankfully that work has paid off for me.” He also acknowledged the circumstances in which he’d made his debut, paying tribute to the man he replaced in the side. “Babar is a very good player and at the back of my mind I was thinking he’s a legend, a very good player. But I thought I’d give 110% and play with a positive mindset. I knew I had to take my opportunity.”
“And,” he says in his vulnerable, soft spoken tone with characteristic understatement, “when it came, I did well.”
