Ashwin praises Kamran Ghulam and mentions 'Babar Azam' in passionate post after historic century in 2nd England Test

Kamran Ghulam announced his presence on the Test stage in style by smashing a brilliant century against England in the second Test match in Multan. The young batsman seized the opportunity after star player Babar Azam was dropped from the Test squad due to his poor form in red-ball cricket. Despite waiting for a long time for his chance in the Pakistan team, Ghulam made his mark after setting a national record with 1,249 runs in the 2020 domestic season. Babar's struggles in Test cricket, with no fifties in his last 18 innings, opened the door for Ghulam's inclusion in the squad, and he certainly made the most of it with a standout performance in his debut match.

Ghulam grabbed the opportunity and did what Babar had failed to do in recent times. He led the hosts' fightback after Jack Leach claimed early wickets to put Pakistan on the backfoot with 19/2 on the scoreboard.

Ghulam added 149 for the defiant third wicket with Saim Ayub, who hit a career-best 77, and another 65 for the fifth wicket with Rizwan. The 29-year-old tackled England's aggressive bowling and fielding to score 118.

Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was highly impressed with Ghulam for making an instant impact at international level.

"With all the talk about ”Babar” spare a thought for Kamran Ghulam, walks into a storm and makes a hundred. #PAKvENG," Ashwin wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the PCB selection committee has lost faith in their former skipper Babar, who has been struggling with form in red-ball cricket. The star batter has not been able to breach the 50-run mark in the last 18 innings. In his last eight innings on home soil, where runs have flowed for others, Babar averages just 18.75, which forced the PCB to make a bold call to drop the former captain from the last two Tests against England.

Ghulam said his century was a reward for his wait.

"It is delightful to score a hundred and that too as a replacement for Babar Azam, who has been a great player for Pakistan," said Ghulam, who had a big letoff on 79 when Ben Duckett failed to get a difficult chance off Leach.

"I saw that with a bated breath but Almighty was so kind on me. "I just took it as a normal first-class match and never took the pressure of a bad start to the team's innings," said Ghulam.