Sports Desk – Azan Awais marked his arrival in international cricket with a flourish, celebrating a composed and determined century on his Test debut.
As he reached the milestone, former captain Rameez Raja remarked from the commentary box, “This is the first time I’ve seen him emotional; he remained incredibly calm throughout the entire innings.”
Azan began his journey yesterday after the lunch break, opening the innings alongside Imam-ul-Haq. Throughout his 4-hour and 5-minute stay at the crease, he never looked unsettled.
Even a sharp bouncer from Nahid Rana that struck his helmet on the first ball of yesterday afternoon didn’t break his concentration, despite a five-minute concussion protocol.
The young left-hander expertly handled the pace of Nahid Rana, Taskin Ahmed, and Ebadot Hossain, while giving no openings to spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz or Taijul Islam.
Resuming day three on 85, Azan completed the remaining 15 runs within the first five overs of the day. His century came off 153 balls, decorated with 14 boundaries.
Shortly after his milestone, he was dismissed by Taskin Ahmed, caught by Najmul Hossain in the slips for 103 runs off 165 balls.
Azan’s habit of scoring big is well-documented in domestic cricket. In 33 first-class matches, he has already notched up 10 centuries, including a double hundred. It was this prolific form that earned him a spot in the national side.
A Place in History
By scoring a ton in his first match, Azan has joined an elite club. In Pakistan’s 74-year Test history spanning 468 matches, he is the 15th batsman to score a century on debut. More specifically, he is the 7th Pakistani opener to achieve this record.
The list of Pakistanis with a debut Test century includes:
Khalid Ibadulla (1964), Javed Miandad (1976), Saleem Malik (1982), Mohammad Wasim (1996), Ali Naqvi (1997), Azhar Mahmood (1997), Younis Khan (2000), Taufeeq Umar (2001), Yasir Hameed (2003), Fawad Alam (2009), Umar Akmal (2009), Abid Ali (2019), and Kamran Ghulam (2024).
Interestingly, Azan is the third Pakistani to score a debut century against Bangladesh. Previously, Taufeeq Umar scored 104 in the 2001 Multan Test, and Yasir Hameed made history in 2003 by scoring centuries in both innings (170 and 105) in Karachi.
Pakistan won both of those matches. Fans now wait to see if Bangladesh can change the script this time.