Abid Ali

An opening batsman with a sound technique who likes playing the ball late, Abid Ali, is a professional cricketer for the Pakistan cricket team, however, he had to wait until 31 to make his debut.  

The right-handed batsman made his first-class debut for Lahore Ravi in the 2007-08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in December 2007 and List A debut in Jan 2005. Since then, he has been an integral part of the Lahore squad. Struggling in the domestic circuit for over ten years, his breakthrough season came in 2017. Ali became the leading run-getter in the 2017-18 Quaid-e-Azam trophy stockpiling 541 runs in just 7 matches. His innings of 231 unbeaten against the National Bank of Pakistan led to a miraculous draw when all the other batsmen were down and out.

Ali’s score of 209 not out against Peshawar in the 2018 Regional One Day Cup became the highest List A score by a Pakistani batsman. After his breakthrough domestic season, his dream of playing for Pakistan became true when he was named in Pakistan’s ODI squad against Australia in March 2019. On his debut, Ali scored his maiden ODI century against Australia on March 29 and became the third Pakistani player to score a ton on debut. In his second match, Ali was dismissed on a golden duck. The stunning start to his ODI career earned him a spot in the preliminary squad of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, although he failed to make his way into the playing XI.

Ali made his Test debut against Sri Lanka on 11th December 2019. On debut, the Lahore-born opener scored a ton and became the first male cricketer to score a century on both ODI and Test debut. Back-to-back centuries in two Tests against Sri Lanka earned him the Player of the Series award and a first Test series victory for Pakistan in over 13 years.

After an explosive entrance to red-ball cricket, Ali was named in the playing XI for the Pakistan tour of England in August 2020. His decent performances in the series against the English side helped him cement his spot in the Test squad of Pakistan.

The batter started his career with a bang at the age of 31 but his impressive domestic records helped him secure his spot in the side. With just a few years left in his cricketing career, he looks in prime touch and would be focusing to make amends for the lost time.

(As of March 2021)