Fawad also appealed to the public to not make a big fuss when a young player plays well after a single season.
It’s difficult for any cricket player to have the motivation to play well after not being selected to play for the national team despite performing consistently well for many years. One example of the unfair nature of the sport is Fawad Alam. Alam, who is one of the 12 batsmen with the highest average (56.57) in FC cricket (min- 10,000 runs), is continually focussed on doing what he does best- score runs and heaps of them season-after-season, and let the other things take care of themselves.
He was expected to be selected to be part of Pakistan’s Test team that would participate in the recently concluded Australia tour. However, head coach-cum chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq surprisingly overlooked him. Alam’s experience would have proven useful when playing in the Land Down Under since most of the Pakistani batsmen struggled.
In an interview, Alam opened up on how he deals with the disappointment and what keeps him motivated. ‘Season has been good so far. In the last match, I became the second-fastest Pakistani after Haneef Mohammad to score 12000 First-Class runs. It’s a tough thing to swallow. When you are playing and performing consistently at the domestic level and still you don’t get the chance, it definitely hurts a lot’.
Fawad Alam does not give up easily. ‘But, you can’t stop! It’s our bread butter. If I keep lamenting why I wasn’t picked then I wouldn’t be able to perform as I am currently and will move down the pegging order… I take it as a challenge and motivate myself that it’s ok if I didn’t get a chance this year, I’ll perform again in the next season. And, it’s okay that I am not getting the chance to play for the country, my performances in domestic cricket are getting recognized at the world level, and I am very grateful for it’.
When asked about the quality of young players coming into the domestic system, Alam said that although they are talented, they need to improve. He also asked people to stop sensationalising a young cricketer based on a few good performances. ‘Cricketers need to consistently evolve in domestic cricket. People hail cricketers on the basis of one good season. They need to give at least three seasons to the young cricketers before passing judgement on their credentials. Everyone is visible in the swimming pool but few actually make their presence felt in an ocean’.
Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in two Tests before facing the Netherlands in three ODIs. To find out more about Pakistan’s upcoming matches, visit Betwala’s page.
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