Pak vs Eng 2nd Test – Kamran Ghulam – I was waiting for my chance, that’s all I was thinking about

“I waited a long time for my chance, but I never gave up,” said 29-year-old Ghulam. “I was waiting for my chance. That's all I thought about. I kept getting called up and then left out of the squad and all I was thinking about was how to make the most of the opportunity I was given.”

This consideration paid off. Ghulam came into the team under a lot of pressure as he replaced Babar Azam. The stakes were heightened by the situation he went into – Pakistan were 19 for 2 after losing Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique cheaply as the England spinners threatened to go on a rampage.

“When I came to the wicket we had lost two wickets. But I wanted to play with a positive attitude like I do in first-class cricket. I had that in mind and I wanted to play my natural game.” “

And Ghulam's domestic oeuvre is particularly extensive. Since his debut in 2013, only 12 players have scored more runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with his average being just under 50 and him trailing only Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel and Usman Salahuddin.

He leaned on that as he navigated a tricky opening session, placing his aggressive shots before lunch and laying the foundations of a 149-run partnership with Saim Ayub that gently eased England's control of the game. He held on when Ayub fell and put together another 65-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan, increasing his century with a strike over midwicket off Joe Root. When he fell and missed a drive from Shoaib Bashir that cleaned him up, he had scored 118: his 17th first-class hundred.

“I scored a lot of first-class runs,” Ghulam said. “I didn’t care about the venue or the team, I just had to make my debut. I knew I had put in a lot of hard work and fortunately that work paid off for me.”

He also acknowledged the circumstances in which he made his debut and paid tribute to the man he replaced in the team. “Babar is a very good player and in the back of my mind I thought he was a legend, a very good player. But I thought I would give 110% and play with a positive attitude. I knew I had to take my chance.”

“And,” he says in his vulnerable, gentle tone with characteristic understatement, “when the time came, I did well.”