Pakistan batter Salman Ali Agha has called for greater respect for domestic cricket after scoring a century in his team’s 37-run victory over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the ODI tri-series in Rawalpindi on Sunday.
Agha scored 107 from 90 balls to help Pakistan begin the tournament with a win. He also received the Player of the Match award.
The century marked an important return for the 32-year-old, who had faced a difficult period in international cricket.
Pakistan had dropped him from the T20I and Test teams. He also lost the T20I captaincy and had not played an international match since August.
Agha returned to domestic cricket to work on his batting. He scored an unbeaten triple century for Kingsmen in the President’s Trophy Grade-I competition in September.
He followed that performance with another century later in the month.
After his match-winning innings against Sri Lanka, Agha said domestic cricket played a major role in helping him regain his form.
“I feel that we don’t give enough respect to our domestic cricket,” Agha said.
“People think conditions there are very easy and scoring runs is a walk in the park, which isn’t true, otherwise everyone would go and score.”
The Pakistan batter also expressed disappointment over how people often react when international players score runs in domestic competitions.
“Let me tell you, scoring runs in domestic cricket is not easy. You have to go there, play well, and fight for your runs; otherwise, runs simply don’t come.”
Agha believes domestic performances deserve more recognition, particularly when experienced players return to the competition after struggling at the international level.
“It’s time we all respect domestic cricket. Instead of saying that scoring in domestic cricket is easy when an international player goes back out of form and performs there, we should appreciate it,” he said.
The batter revealed that he had problems with his technique before returning to domestic cricket.
“Look at me: I came back after playing five domestic matches. My batting alignment and mechanics were out of place, but I went there, played, performed, and improved significantly.”
Agha said his recent struggles had been difficult to overcome, especially after several years of consistent performances for Pakistan.
“I mean, three or four Test matches didn’t go well, but I had been performing consistently for four years before that,” he said.
“So I don’t think being in or out of the limelight changes things drastically.”
He also explained why recovering form in international cricket can take time.
“But yes, when you face a rough patch in international cricket, getting out of it isn’t easy because you are playing high-risk cricket under immense pressure against the best professionals in the world.”
“Form going down and then climbing back up takes time. That was the case with me too.”
Agha will now look to continue his good form when Pakistan face England in their second match of the tri-series in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
The tournament also features Sri Lanka, with the final scheduled for October 31 in Lahore.
