RAWALPINDI: Having flayed the Australian attack for an entire day en route to getting his maiden century, Imam-ul-Haq was understandably lost for words.

“To be honest, I cannot explain right now how I’m feeling,” the returning Pakistan opener told reporters after his 132 not out saw Pakistan finish on 245-1 on the opening day of their first Test against Australia on home soil in 24 years at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

“I was working hard for the last 18 months to get back into the Test side. I had belief that if I got an opportunity I would make it count. I last played against Australia in Australia, then I got injured in New Zealand and was out of the playing XI. So I was just waiting for my opportunity.”

For Imam, the opportunity beckoned in a historic Test with Australia touring Pakistan for the first time since 1998.

And he did it in some style on a day when Pakistan hoped Australia’s tour would open doors to regular visits by top teams, driving pacer Mitchell Starc to the cover boundary in the final session to draw a standing ovation from a crowd of 12,000 at the stadium.

So far, he’s faced 271 deliveries in a 379-minute stay, hitting 15 boundaries and two sixes and has been involved in two century-plus partnerships with fellow opener Abdullah Shafique (44) and Azhar Ali, who ended the day at 64 not out.

“You cannot doubt yourself. As a cricketer, you have to believe in your ability,” added Imam, playing his first Test since December 2019. “I scored two first-class hundreds last year so I had that belief. Then, there was the camp in Karachi [ahead of the Test series]. It was very helpful.”

Pakistan’s dominant start to the Test, however, was tempered by a suicide bomb attack at a mosque in Peshawar, about 190 kilometres west of Rawalpindi and some 140 kilometres away from Islamabad where the Australian team are staying, which saw at least 56 people killed on Friday.

There was no indication from Australia’s interim head coach Andrew McDonald that the attack would affect the plans of his team.

“We will be guided by our security team, but we’re in really, really good hands,” he told reporters after the close of play.

On a flat and grassless wicket, McDonald saw his bowlers toil against the Pakistan batters after opting to go with three frontline fast bowlers, a fast bowling all-rounder and a lone spinner in Nathan Lyon.

Australia captain and speedster Pat Cummins used eight bowlers, including part-time spinners Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith without any reward.

“That was one thing that we had to do so the game didn’t run away from us on day one in terms of selection,” McDonald said, refusing to be judged after just one day. “I’d like to think that we can judge over five days and not in isolation on one day. It clearly was a tough day for everyone, for all the bowlers. I thought Pakistan played really well.”

Ahead of the match, both teams observed a minute’s silence for Australian great Rod Marsh who died on Friday with the Australians wearing black armbands in the memory of their former wicket-keeper.

After skipper Babar Azam decided to bat, Imam and Abdullah gave Pakistan a strong start with a confident 105-run stand.

To loud cheers and banners of “Thank You Australia”, Mitchell Starc bowled the first delivery. But alongside Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s three-pronged pace attack, he enjoyed little success.

Cummins used up a review trying to get Imam lbw by Starc, and then introduced Lyon in the eighth over.

Lyon extracted turn off the wicket with the new ball but both openers dominated him by using their feet. Abdullah stepped out to hit Lyon over the long-on rope for a six and Imam hit Australia’s ace spinner for another.

Abdullah was dropped by Head at leg slip off Lyon when at 21 but eventually fell to the spinner in the penultimate over before lunch.

Trying to clear long-off, Abdullah stepped out but was beaten in the flight and could only sky the ball high in the air, allowing Cummins to run from mid-off to take a tumbling catch.

Abdullah also hit three boundaries during his knock.

Imam, who had raised his half century by pulling Cummins to square leg boundary for a four before lunch, and Azhar, who hit four fours and a six in his 165-ball vigil and brought up his fifty in the 74th over, then denied Australia another breakthrough with an unbroken stand of 140 through the last two sessions.

With the duo dominating the pace attack, Cummins brought on his part-time spinners but it didn’t help either.

Imam acknowledged Azhar was a key support as he powered towards the century mark.

“He told me to wait and be patient when I was a few runs away,” he informed.

Imam’s moment came after tea when he threaded a Starc delivery through the off-side for four to reach his century, improving on his previous best of 76 made against the same opponents in Dubai in October 2018.

He jumped in the air and threw a fist before taking off his helmet and prostrating. It’s took him time — this being his 12th Test — to finally register his maiden hundred. But Imam picked the perfect opponents and the perfect time to do it.

“It’s been a tough day for me against a formidable attack of Australia, but that’s how you progress,” he said. “A hundred against Australia is special and different from other teams.”

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st innings):
Abdullah Shafique c Cummins b Lyon 44
Imam-ul-Haq not out 132
Azhar Ali not out 64
EXTRAS (B-4, NB-1) 5
TOTAL (for one wicket, 90 overs) 245
FALL OF WICKET: 1-105.
TO BAT: Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah. BOWLING: Starc 16-4-43-0, Hazlewood 14-3-24-0, Lyon 31-4-87-1, Cummins 15-3-34-0, Head 3-0-13-0, Green 5-1-18-0 (1nb), Labuschagne 4-0-17-0, Smith 2-0-5-0.

AUSTRALIA: D. Warner, Usman Khawaja, M. Labuschagne, S. Smith, T. Head, C. Green, A. Carey, M. Starc, P. Cummins, N. Lyon
UMPIRES: Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza (both Pakistan)
TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob (Pakistan) MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2022