Ramiz Raja says Pakistan need to give Fawad Alam a second chance to revive his Test career

Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja believes left-handed batsman Fawad Alam deserves to be given a second chance to revive his Test career in the upcoming series against England to be played in a bio-secure environment. Ramiz said Alam, 34, had been waiting in the wings for long to have a second crack at Test cricket. “I think the way he (Alam) has performed consistently in domestic cricket, he deserves a chance now as age is not on his side,” Ramiz said while answering fans’ questions in a live YouTube session. “I think they should play Fawad Alam because he has been waiting in the wings with the team. If they hold on for longer, age might start becoming a factor because your reflexes start to slow down. He should definitely get one chance in this Test series,” he added. Pakistan will square off in a three-match Test series against England, starting 5 August at Manchester. Alam represented Pakistan in only three Test matches, piling 250 runs at an average of 41.66. His last Test was against New Zealand at Dunedin way back in 2009. But Alam’s Test chances brightened up after middle-order batsman, Haris Sohail had pulled out of the England tour due to family reasons. Alam, who scored a century on his Test debut back in July, 2009 against Sri Lanka at Colombo, has appeared in 38 ODIs and 24 T20 Internationals between 2010 and 2015. Ramiz also felt that Pakistan could experiment with three openers in the playing eleven and try Imam-ul-Haq at number three. “I think they can slot in Imam as an additional opener because in these COVID-19 conditions with bowlers not allowed to use saliva to shine the ball, I think the most important part would be to see off the new ball without damages and that is why I think we can try an additional opener with Abid and Shan,” he said. “I think in England my experience is that in Tests role of the openers is very important and if they give a good start there is less pressure on the middle and lower order. “If you suffer less damage against the new ball, it is significantly easier to bat in the middle-order.” Ramiz also felt the need for a quality all-rounder in the Pakistan team. “I don’t know if they are preparing someone for that role or not but apart from that the team will be pretty much the same with one spinner and three fast-bowlers,” he said.