Name: Fawad Alam

Birth date: 1985-10-08

Hometown: Karachi

Teams: Pakistan, Karachi Cricket Association Under-19s, Karachi Dolphins, National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Customs, Pakistan Emerging Team

Debut: 22nd May 2007

ODI Best: 63* | 1/8

Test Best: 168

An ever present in the Pakistan squad since the 2007 World Cup debacle, Fawad Alam is a young prospect that has dominated the Pakistani domestic scene for a couple of seasons. He made his debut at the tender age of 17 years old, and has been touted for great things from his peers.

He first came to prominence with the Pakistan Under 19s – he was part of the World Cup winning team

Essentially a lower-order batsman, he bowls slow left-arm spin as well as being a decent fielder.

He made his full Pakistani debut aged 21, and has been a squad regular since, although he has been given limited opportunity to shine, usually batting low down the order towards the end of an innings, or bowling when the ‘slog’ is on. He did manage in this period to score a triple century, scored for the Pakistan Academy v Kenya during their tour of Africa. Such knocks and many others have made Fawad one of the fan’s favourites.

Fawad Alam finally made his test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and was asked to open the batting. He was involved in a fighting partnership with his captain in the second innings and made 168 although it was not enough to save a series defeat. He was awarded a shared man of the match award and seems to have cemented himself a spot in the test team.

Breaking into the ODI and T20 team and not as a 12th man looks a harder task, as Fawad’s bowling has not proved effective enough and with the return of ICL players, he has moved down the pecking order. Now with competition coming in from youngsters such as Umar Akmal, he may have to bide his time a bit longer. 
 
Alam supporters are keen for him to fill the void left by some of the experienced players Pakistan has lost in the last couple of years – others see him a s a ‘fringe player’ and aren’t convinced that he has the necessary tools to make it at the top level, citing his limited abilities with the bat and ball.

For now, he is part of Pakistan’s plans and no doubt he will be looking to add to his Pakistan caps.