Fawad Alam

Pakistan|Top order Batter
Fawad Alam
INTL CAREER: 2007 - 2022
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Full Name

Fawad Alam

Born

October 08, 1985, Karachi

Age

38y 163d

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Slow Left arm Orthodox

Playing Role

Top order Batter

RELATIONS

(father)

Fawad Alam, son of Pakistan's famous first-class cricketer Tariq Alam, made his first-class debut at the age of 17. He was duly picked to represent Pakistan at the U-19 World Cup based on his performances with Pakistan Customs and Karachi on the domestic circuit.

An unbeaten 43 in the semi-final against India not only guided Pakistan to the final (which they went on to win), but also marked his status as an immensely talented left-handed allrounder (something that Pakistan agonisingly lacks).

He was then named in the U-19 squad to play the touring Sri Lankans and South Africa Academy teams. That same year, he was invited to join the National Cricket Academy (NCA), a pool of talented individuals to be groomed for the elite level.

His real breakthrough was the 2006-07 season where Fawad outshone the rest by miles. He guided Karachi Dolphins to the final of the Twenty20 Cup (losing to defending champions Sialkot Stallions) where he not only grabbed a five-wicket haul and scored a valiant 54, but also went home with the Man of the Final, Man of the Series, Best Batsman and Best Bowler awards.

He also scored heavily in the longer version of the game namely the Quaid-e-Azam trophy where he finished as the fifth highest run-scorer. In the shorter version of the game, he turned out to be a useful ingredient of the National Bank mix that lifted the Patron's Cup, almost carried Karachi Dolphins to the ABN AMRO Cup final (second highest run-scorer and highest wicket-taker in the competition).

After an intense, but profitable, first-class season, Fawad was selected to captain the Pakistan Academy's tour of Bangladesh where his performance was deemed adequate enough for a call to the national squad. Fawad, however, failed to shine on his international debut in the searing Abu Dhabi conditions aged 21. Surprisingly not required to bowl at all, Fawad also fell first ball to cap off a lacklustre debut. The selectors, however, kept their trust in the young allrounder, giving him opportunities in Pakistan's limited-overs squads. Fawad was the leading run-getter during Pakistan Academy's tour of Africa in September-October 2008; he scored 302 not out in a four-day game against Kenya.

Presumably that would set Fawad up for a long, illustrious career? Well, yes, but also very much no. A call-up to a Test tour of Sri Lanka saw him score 168 on debut, but after two further Tests with few runs to his name, he was dropped. That's usually not too big a worry in Pakistan; people keep getting dropped and picked up again almost every other series, but what would happen to Fawad was Kafkaesque in its surreal nightmarishness.

Fawad became one of the most prolific first-class batsmen in Pakistan cricket history, and holds the record for the highest batting average for any Pakistan first-class batter ever. That has been true since 2013, and from the 2015-16 season onwards, no one in Pakistan score more first-class runs. He averaged in the high 50s with 40 first-class hundreds; no batsman on the domestic circuit ever really coming close.

But for the next 11 years, coaches and selectors in Pakistan produced streams of reasons that rendered him ill-suited to the international stage. Batters with decidedly inferior records were called up, enjoyed a few Tests here and there, but the door was firmly shut on Fawad. In this time, he went through a stylistic transformation of his own; his crab-like batting stance means he's side-on, almost facing mid-on, when the bowler runs in, like a Shivnarine Chanderpaul tribute act. It might look ugly, but the results were phenomenal.

Finally, in 2019, Fawad was called up to the national side for a home series against Sri Lanka, fittingly enough, but continued to warm the bench for the best part of a further year. He got his chance in England, and on that long-awaited return, managed only a four-ball duck. Quality, however, ultimately shines through, and a heroic fourth innings hundred in Mount Maunganui that took Pakistan to within minutes of securing an impossible draw finally marked his return to where he truly belonged: the highest level of the game.

A century in an attritional home win against South Africa followed a month later, and a couple more in Zimbabwe and West Indies in 2021. At 35, Fawad's career has a second wind, but he might wonder if he got a fair crack of his first.

Danyal Rasool

Fawad Alam Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests19304101116838.88217046.58521123130
ODIs383612966114*40.25129774.4716596100
T20Is241761942817.63169114.79007770
FC2013145314526296*55.65--4370--1090
List A20317944657714948.71--840--800
T20s120982522587030.931893119.2801318234350

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests193965422/462/4627.003.3748.0000
ODIs381339837751/81/875.405.6879.6000
T20Is246909583/73/711.876.3311.2000
FC201-53442523604/274/2742.052.8389.0300
List A203-43273603895/535/5340.484.9948.6010
T20s12047661813435/275/2718.907.3715.3010
Fawad Alam

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Test
ODI
T20I

Recent Matches of Fawad Alam

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Sindh vs Northern61* & 1130/2926-Nov-2022LahoreFC
Sindh vs Balochistan62*0/1320-Nov-2022LahoreFC
Sindh vs Northern240/3714-Nov-2022KarachiFC
Sindh vs Southern PNJ27 & 60/302-Nov-2022RawalpindiFC
Sindh vs Central PNJB11 & 83--27-Oct-2022RawalpindiFC

Photos of Fawad Alam

Fawad Alam plays a pull during his knock on the first day
An acrobatic Fawad Alam attempts to stop a boundary
A frustrated Fawad Alam walks back after being dismissed
Fawad Alam congratulates Usman Khawaja for his century
Fawad Alam was cleaned up by Mitchell Starc
Shaheen Shah Afridi celebrates in trademark fashion after dismissing Marnus Labuschagne