Salman Agha’s Remarkable Comeback

After a string of poor performances, Salman Ali Agha lost his place in the team and was stripped of Pakistan’s T20 captaincy. He was even sent home midway through the tour of England. Instead of letting the setbacks overwhelm him, the 32-year-old returned to domestic cricket and rebuilt his form with a series of big scores, including an unbeaten triple century. On his return to international cricket, he struck a brilliant century.

Following his impressive comeback, the Pakistani batter also hit back at critics who underestimate domestic cricket. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the opening match of the tri-nation ODI series in Rawalpindi on Thursday night. Mr. Agha was the hero of the victory, scoring 107 off 90 balls, including 10 fours and a six, to earn the Player of the Match award. It was his first international appearance since August.

The past few months had been difficult for Mr. Agha. He was first dropped from the T20 team. Although he captained Pakistan in the first Test during the tour of England, he was later dropped from the side. After returning home, he focused on domestic cricket to address problems with his batting. That decision marked the beginning of his comeback.

In September, Mr. Agha scored an unbeaten triple century for Kingsmen in Pakistan’s President’s Trophy Grade-I competition. He followed it with 72 runs in the next match and then scored 145 in the match after that. His performances kept him in the selectors’ plans.

Mr. Agha believes his experience in domestic cricket was the key to his successful return to international cricket. After Pakistan’s victory over Sri Lanka, he expressed frustration with the tendency to undervalue domestic competitions.

“I think we do not give domestic cricket enough respect. Many people believe the conditions there are very easy and scoring runs is no big deal. But the reality is not like that at all. Otherwise, everyone would go there and score runs.” Mr. Agha also complained that when international players score runs in domestic competitions, their achievements are often dismissed.

“When a player like me scores runs in domestic cricket, many people on social media, former cricketers and in the media say that he has scored runs only in domestic cricket. As if it is not an achievement at all.” Mr. Agha himself spent nearly a decade playing domestic cricket before establishing himself at the international level. He understands how difficult it can be to score consistently at that level.

“Scoring runs in domestic cricket is not easy. You have to go there and play well and fight for runs. Otherwise, you cannot score. I reached the international level after playing domestic cricket for 10 years. After that, I performed in international cricket for four to four-and-a-half years. Saud Shakeel also came through domestic cricket. Players like us should have our achievements recognised.”

The Pakistani batter also explained how he improved his batting. “I returned after playing five matches in domestic cricket. There were some problems with my batting stance and technique. I went there, played, scored runs and made a lot of improvements to my batting. By the grace of Allah, I have received the reward for that hard work today. Now is the time to give domestic cricket the respect it deserves.”

Mr. Agha did not hide his disappointment at being dropped from the Test and T20 teams. “I did not do well in three or four Test matches. But before that, I had performed well for four consecutive years. So, whether I am in the discussion or not does not matter much to me.”

He also pointed out that recovering from a poor run in international cricket is not easy. “When you go through a bad period in international cricket, it is difficult to come out of it. You have to play under tremendous pressure against the best cricketers in the world. The risks are also much higher. Once you lose your form, it takes time to regain it. That is what happened in my case as well.”