Kamran very happy with selection for Test squad

KARACHI: Pakistan’s recently-concluded first-class season’s record-breaking batsman Kamran Ghulam is very happy with his selection in the country’s elite 20-member squad which will play a couple of Tests against South Africa with the opener set to begin here from January 26 at the National Stadium.

“Getting into the 20-player squad out of a population of 220 million people in a historic series is something for me and my family to celebrate and enjoy,” he said.

Kamran, representing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2020-2021, scored 1249 runs, the highest ever from a player in a single first-class season in the history of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He broke the record of Saadat Ali, who amassed 1217 runs in the 1983-1984 first-class season.

“I am glad that domestic cricket is being valued and respected, and my selection will give a boost to other domestic players to perform and progress to the international stage,” Kamran said.

“At the end of the day 11 best and most suited players will feature in the first Test but the remaining nine will continue to enjoy being part of the elite group, considered good enough to represent Pakistan,” he added.

For his great achievement, Kamran was also honoured with the award of the best domestic cricketer of the year. Kamran was supported by his brothers when he migrated from Upper-Dir to Peshawar in 2010 for the love of game, as cricket was the biggest passion of his life. He was picked in Pakistan Under-19 squad for the tour of England in 2013 following which he got selected in Asia Cup U19 tournament the same year.

In the Asia Cup, Kamran scored 217 in five matches at an average of 72.33. He struck one century and one fifty with an unbeaten 102, his highest score, in the tournament final against India.