RAWALPINDI: The figure of Abid Ali emerged as a new giant of Pakistan cricket in the glorious sunshine of Sunday when the diminutive opener rewrote history books by scoring a brilliant Test debut century during the predictable stalemate against Sri Lanka here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

After four days of heartbreak with 528 minutes — amounting to final total of 268.1 overs — being eaten by the bad weather had made the contest farcical in what should have been a historic first match of the landmark two-Test series, the final day turned out to be a stark contrast to the preceding chain of events, as Abid became the first batsman on the planet to score hundred on debut both in One-day International and Test formats.

The 32-year-old followed his 112 on his maiden ODI appearance against Australia in Dubai last March with an undefeated 109 — which was the second of three hundreds churned out on day five — to join the exalted band of batsmen launching their Test careers in the manner.

Abid’s century and that of Babar Azam (102 not out) — the rising star of Pakistan batting — helped Pakistan end the match at a cosy 252-2.

Right-handed Abid provided the 12th instance of a Pakistani reaching three figures and the first in 10 years after Fawad Alam, who warmed the bench in this drawn game, and Umar Akmal were the last two in 2009.

And although Babar and Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva also posted centuries, Abid was the toast of Pakistan cricket in front of the largest turnout as around 12,000 were able to see history being made by one of the most underrated cricketers in recent memory.

The humbleness of the compact opening batsmen won the hearts of every individual as he survived 28 deliveries in the nervous 90s before calmly punching through the covers for a brace off seamer Vishwa Fernando after tea, which finally graduated Abid into the record books forever.

Abid, who got the coveted landmark from 185 deliveries with the aid of 11 boundaries — almost slipped while turning back for the second run but regained composure swiftly by looking upwards to thank the Almighty Allah before raising his arms to acknowledge the vociferous response from the enthusiastic fans who were constantly shouting ‘Abid, Abid, Abid’ every time he took strike.

The simplicity of this down-to-earth character was dissected during the post-match media conference when he downplayed his memorable achievement by stating: “I know deep in my heart that my time would come after I was ignored for the past several series. I’m not one of those guys who complain. I had never grumbled upon being ignored.

“Allah has been extremely kind to me every time I faced challenging moments. I had patience and a self-belief that I’ll prove what I am capable of. All along in my career, I strove to work as hard as anyone else. This is an age of competition and if I fail to live up to the team’s expectations you won’t find me complaining.”

When asked to explain what was going through his mind when Sri Lanka resumed their incomplete first innings from Friday’s score of 263-6 and the time running out fast, considering what had transpired before, Abid said he had the target firmly in his sights.

“I had complete faith in my abilities that if Pakistan were to get around 50 overs at the most, I’ll definitely have a go at the unique landmark. Thankfully I got the hundred in my debut Test. What more could you ask for? I waited for long for this very day to come and here I am.”

Down the line, Abid pleaded with the media not draw comparison with the legends of the past. “Look I am just an ordinary player and I can’t match those greats. Please let me be Abid Ali and see me as Abid Ali only.”

The opener wholeheartedly praised the support Babar, who faced 128 balls and hit 14 fours in his debut ton on home soil, for his wonderful support during the unbroken partnership of 162 in 151 minutes.

“Babar is a world-class player and is very well respected by all and sundry,” Abid observed. “He was truly amazing because he gave me the confidence to remain calm at the crease and wait for bad balls. When I got a bit nervous in the 90s Babar’s words of inspiration carried me through the difficult phase and helped me to the century mark.”

Following Sri Lanka’s declaration at 308-6 earlier in the morning after de Silva duly went to his sixth Test hundred — 102 from 166 deliveries in four hours (15 boundaries) after having batted on the first three days, Pakistan struggled at the beginning of the innings.

The hard new cherry reduced Shan Masood to a novice as the ball swing and both Kasun Rajitha and the left-armer Vishwa Fernando found lateral movement off the pitch which had fair texture of moisture after being under covers since Friday afternoon.

The tall left-hander was put out of his misery after 14 minutes of his torrid stay when he pushed a full toss from the impressive Rajitha, who was used for just six overs, straight to Dinesh Chandimal at mid-off.

Azhar Ali restored parity but the Pakistan captain appeared overly nervous throughout the stand of 87 with Abid. Azhar would have got run out on a couple of occasions but upon reaching 36 (from 81 balls, four boundaries) a lazy flick against the pace of Lahiru Kumara landed in the lap of his Sri Lankan counterpart Dimuth Karunaratne after the lunch interval.

Earlier, de Silva encountered no problems whatsoever as he and Dilruwan Perera (16) extended their partnership to 52 without being separated. De Silva later termed his hundred as the second best of a Test career that he began on a similar note three years ago.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan squad left for Karachi later on Sunday for the second Test starting on Thursday, while the visiting Sri Lanka side were scheduled to depart for the metropolis on Monday.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA (1st Innings, overnight from Friday 263-6):

F.D.M. Karunaratne lbw b Shaheen 59

B.O.P Fernando c Haris b Nasim 40

B.K.G. Mendis c Rizwan b Usman 10

A.D. Mathews c Asad b Nasim 31

L.D. Chandimal b Abbas 2

D.M. de Silva not out 101

N. Dickwella c Babar b Shaheen 33

M.D.K. Perera not out 16

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-7, NB-3) 15

TOTAL (for six wkts decl, 97 overs) 308

FALL OF WKTS: 1-96, 2-109, 3-120, 4-127, 5-189, 6-256.

DID NOT BAT: M.V.T. Fernando, C.A.K. Rajitha, C.B.R.L.S. Kumara.

BOWLING: Mohammad Abbas 27-9-72-1; Shaheen Shah Afridi 22-7-58-2 (3nb); Usman Khan Shinwari 15-4-54-1; Nasim Shah 27-5-92-2; Haris Sohail 3-0-12-0; Shan Masood 1-1-0-0; Asad Shafiq 2-0-8-0.

PAKISTAN (1st Innings):

Shan Masood c Chandimal b Rajitha 0

Abid Ali not out 109

Azhar Ali c Karunaratne b Kumara 36

Babar Azam not out 102

EXTRAS (B-2, W-1, NB-2) 5

TOTAL (for two wkts, 70 overs) 252

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-90.

DID NOT BAT: Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Nasim Shah, Usman Khan Shinwari

BOWLING: Rajitha 6-2-5-1 (1nb); M.V.T. Fernando 13-1-49-0 (1w); Kumara 14-4-46-1; Perera 24-0-85-0; de Silva 11-0-48-1 (1nb); B.O.P. Fernando 1-0-3-0; Mendis 1-0-14-0

UMPIRES: R.A. Kettleborough (England) and M.A. Gough (England)

RESULT: Match drawn

SERIES: Two-match series stands at 0-0.

TV UMPIRE: R.K. Illingworth (England)

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe)

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Abid Ali.

SECOND TEST: Karachi, Dec 19-23

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2019