Salman Agha answers his Test axing with an unbeaten 300 in the President's Trophy

Salman Agha made an unbeaten 300 for Kingsmen Academy at Abbottabad, a fortnight after Pakistan released him from their Test tour of England

Agha reached the first triple century of his first-class career in the opening round of the President's Trophy Grade-I, finishing on 300 not out from 336 balls with 42 fours and six sixes.

He walked in with Kingsmen Academy 72 for 3 and was still there when they declared on 565 for 7 after 131.1 overs, having added 274 with Muhammad Suleman.

It is comfortably the highest score of his first-class career. His previous best was 169, and he had reached three figures 17 times without once going past 200.

From Headingley to Abbottabad

Agha captained Pakistan in the first Test against England at Headingley, where he made 21 in the first innings and four in the second.

He was left out of the side for the second Test at Lord's, and after defeats in both matches he was one of seven players sent home before the final Test at Edgbaston.

England completed a 3-0 series win in Birmingham, a tour that has since been followed by a PCB investigation into the squad's conduct and an unresolved question over who coaches the Test side.

Agha is not the only member of that squad who has gone straight into the domestic first-class season: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf are all playing in the same round.

Building the innings

Agha came in on the opening day with three wickets down and batted on through to the declaration on the second, the 42 fours doing most of the scoring.

Muhammad Suleman's 115 from 219 balls, with 13 fours and two sixes, was the only other substantial innings; nobody else in the order passed 34.

Muhammad Shayan made 34 from 71 balls, Azan Tariq 31 from 31 and Mohammad Hurraira 30 from 58.

Salman Aslam was the most successful of the Markhor IT Solutions bowlers with 2-70 from 24 overs.

Agha dedicates the innings to his family

"My form in international cricket has not been up to the mark in the last few series," Agha said afterwards, adding that he had made slight adjustments to his batting.

"I am very happy because such milestones are once in a lifetime," he said.

He said he had spent ten years in domestic cricket before playing for Pakistan and still enjoyed going back to it. "I dedicate this innings to my family," he said. "My form has not been good. It was a challenging time, so I dedicate this innings to them."

Farooq replies with a hundred

Markhor IT Solutions closed the second day on 179 for 3 from 31 overs, still 386 runs behind.

Mohammad Farooq was unbeaten on 107 from 95 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes, and Atiq-ur-Rehman made 36 from 47.

Farooq reached his hundred at better than a run a ball, and Markhor IT Solutions still have two days in which to save the match.

Internationals fill the first round

Khan Research Laboratories declared on 547 for 9 against Ghani Glass at Peshawar, with Imran Rafiq making 129 and Fakhar Zaman 128.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, back in domestic red-ball cricket for the first time since 2019, hit 47 from 49 balls, and Ghani Glass replied with 200 for 5.

At Islamabad, Haris Rauf took 4-21 from seven overs as OGDCL slipped to 90 for 5 in reply to Pakistan Television's 400, built around Mohammad Taha's 134.

The one low-scoring game of the round is at Rawalpindi, where State Bank of Pakistan were bowled out for 158 and SNGPL reached 161 for 5, a first-innings lead of three.

Scorecard: Kingsmen Academy 565 for 7 declared (Salman Agha 300*, Muhammad Suleman 115) lead Markhor IT Solutions 179 for 3 (Mohammad Farooq 107*) by 386 runs

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