Even by Pakistani selection standards, for a player to score 168 on Test debut and then be dropped for 11 years after playing just three matches was remarkable. Many would have lost faith, but Fawad Alam is made of sterner stuff. “I kept on working hard in the hope that one day I would receive a recall,” the 36-year-old tells WCM.
“The aim was that whenever that second chance came, I had to grab it with both hands and not let go.” Continually overlooked despite piling on the runs in domestic cricket, Fawad says each disappointment made him more determined in his quest to return to the Test arena. “When Test squads were announced and I had been doing well in domestic cricket and my name wasn’t included, it was disappointing. But that disappointment only lasted a few minutes and I learnt to move on quickly, accept it and get back to doing what I had to do, which was to score runs. I got used to not seeing my name when squads were announced and that acted as a motivation. It became a challenge for me to strive to score more runs, so that the selectors couldn’t ignore me any longer.”