Fawad Alam

Fawad was picked to tour England in 2010. He played club cricket in England to help him get used to the conditions.[7] Fawad scored well in the first two matches but his major break came in the third ODI when he increased his top score to 64. He retained his place for the ODI series against South Africa in the UAE. After scoring 123 runs in the 5 match series, he was subsequently dropped from the ODI team and later that year, lost his place in the T20 team after the tour to New Zealand.

After being dropped from all formats for three and a half years, his impressive displays domestically (most notably being the top run scorer in the President's One Day Trophy in the season 2013/14) earned him a recall to the national side for the Asia Cup in 2014. His first match after his recall was against the host team Bangladesh, deputising for the injured Sharjeel Khan. He contributed significantly to the team's victory, scoring 74 runs from 70 balls in a competitive chase of 326. He continued his form by scoring his maiden international ODI hundred (114 not out) against Sri Lanka in the final, rescuing his side from 18/3 to 260/5 with the help of Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal. His effort was not enough though as Sri Lanka successfully chased the target to become the champions of the 2014 Asia Cup.[8]

In 2017, Fawad signed to play as a professional for Clitheroe cricket club in the Lancashire League (cricket). In April 2018, he was named the vice-captain of Sindh's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup.[9][10] In March 2019, he was named in Baluchistan's squad for the 2019 Pakistan Cup.[11][12]

In September 2019, he was named in Sindh's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.[13][14]

In July 2009, Fawad became the first Pakistani cricketer to score a Test century on debut away from home, and the tenth to score a century on debut, scoring 168 runs in the second innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka. In a partnership of 200 runs with captain Younus Khan for the second wicket the pair broke the previous record of 151 runs between Mohsin Khan and Majid Khan at Lahore in 1981–82. It was also highest partnership for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.[15] However, just two Test matches later, he was dropped from the team.

In December 2019, after a gap of more than ten years, Alam was named in Pakistan's Test squad, for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka.[16] In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18] In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England.[19][20] In August, Alam played in the second Test against England, after a gap of 10 years and 258 days since his last Test match appearance.[21] In the first innings, he faced four balls before being dismissed for a duck.[22]

In December 2020, Alam was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their away series against New Zealand.[23] In the First Test, he scored his first Test hundred after more than 11 years, a gap of 4,218 days between the two. It was the longest period only behind after Warren Bardsley's 5,093 and Syed Mushtaq Ali's 4,544 days.[24]

In January 2021 Fawad was named in Pakistan's 17 man Test squad for their home series against South Africa.[25] In the 1st test Fawad scored 109, sharing a century partnership with Faheem Ashraf.[26]