Salman Agha announced his return to domestic first-class cricket in stunning fashion, compiling an unbeaten 300 off 336 balls for Kingsmen Academy against Markhor IT Solutions at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in the opening round of the President’s Trophy. The innings marked his highest first-class score, eclipsing his previous best of 169, and came just two weeks after he was sent home from England during a controversial overhaul of the Test squad. He credited his milestone to key “adjustments” in his approach to the game.
“My form in international cricket has not been up to the mark in recent series,” he said in a video released by the PCB. “You make adjustments that can be very helpful in getting back to your best. I also made some slight changes to my batting, which have helped me a great deal. I am very happy because milestones like these come only once in a lifetime.”
Agha has found the going tough in international cricket of late, managing just 45 runs across five innings in his last three Tests before being dropped for the Lord’s Test — the second match of the three-Test series that Pakistan lost to England 3-0. In the first Test at Headingley, he stood in for Babar Azam, who was sidelined with a finger injury, but made way for his return at Lord’s and was ultimately removed from the touring party along with six other players and coaches Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul following Pakistan’s losses in both Tests.Pakistan’s defeat at Edgbaston marked their 16th loss in the last 21 matches. The team sits at the bottom of the nine-team World Test Championship table, finishing last in the previous cycle as well. This persistent slide has prompted calls from all quarters, including PCB selectors, for players to participate regularly in Pakistan’s domestic first-class circuit.
Under the newly introduced central contracts, the PCB has made it mandatory for A-category (Test specialists) and AB-category (Test and ODI specialists) players to feature in at least six and four domestic first-class matches per year, respectively. Agha had played only three first-class matches over the previous three years. Shaheen Shah Afridi, who had not played a domestic first-class fixture in Pakistan since 2019, is another high-profile cricketer returning to the domestic arena. He is representing Khan Research Laboratories against Ghani at Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar.Speaking on the significance of regular first-class cricket, Agha said: “It is very important for an international cricketer to play domestic cricket, and I believe every cricketer should take the opportunity to do so. That is what I am doing, and I feel very good to be back in the domestic circuit.”
Agha’s monumental knock propelled his team to 565 for 7 declared. However, it came against a side lacking international bowling experience, as both teams in the fixture were making their first-class debuts after earning promotion the previous year. Nevertheless, spending an extended period at the crease is certain to help Agha rebuild confidence — the most deliveries he faced in a single innings during his last three Tests was 60, scored for 20 runs in the second innings at Tarouba.
His presence alongside team-mate Muhammad Huraira, the only other Test cricketer in the side, also bodes well for the unit. This was evident in their 274-run fourth-wicket partnership with Mohammad Suleman, which helped Kingsmen Academy recover from 72 for 3. Suleman, a 27-year-old from Hyderabad with 28 first-class matches to his name, went on to record his sixth century.
“I like playing domestic cricket and enjoy coming back to it, as I spent 10 years here before graduating to the top level,” Agha said. “We were in a tricky spot at 72 for 3, and I spoke to Suleman about building a partnership because these are the kinds of conditions where we can post a big score if we stay in for a long time. I was looking to stitch partnerships with the batters that came in after him. I wasn’t really chasing a milestone or a century; I was focused on what was in front of me and concentrating on every ball.”
“I dedicate this innings to my family. My form has not been good, and it has been a challenging time, so I want to dedicate this innings to them.”