Summary "I was not nervous when I was facing Nahid, though I was a little bit nervous when I was going to bat"
MIRPUR, Bangladesh (Web Desk) - Pakistan's debutant opener Azan Awais said he "zoned out for five minutes" after Nahid Rana struck him on the helmet with his first ball yesterday. The 21-year-old Awais, who became the 14th Pakistan player to score a hundred on Test debut, admitted to nerves before the innings, but said after getting hit that he wanted to show his character.
"I was not nervous when I was facing Nahid, though I was a little bit nervous when I was going to bat. But when the ball hit my helmet, I was a little zoned out for five minutes. But then I realised it was time to show how I was, so I am glad with how I responded. In international cricket, you will face difficulties. They plan for where they're going to bowl to you, so you have to find solutions to that if you want to score runs."
After the blow, Awais received prolonged treatment and was tested for concussion twice before being able to continue, but grew substantially in confidence, especially against Rana, as his innings progressed. He was aggressive against Rana's short, quick delivery, scoring 27 in 23 such balls off him, including five boundaries. One of those earlier today took him into the 90s, and it was against Bangladesh's quickest bowler that he brought up three figures, even if his reaction belied the magnitude of his achievement.
"I'm a very calm guy. I just did a normal celebration. It's my first one. It's a very blessed feeling for me. It's a dream to play Test cricket. It's my debut match, and I performed really well for my country."
While Bangladesh lost early wickets on a green-top wicket Pakistan were glad to bowl first on, Awais, and Pakistan's top order, avoided the same pitfalls. The top three's contributions helped them get to 210 for 1, negotiating the challenges of the surface and a dangerous bowling attack.
Awais credited his prolific last couple of years in domestic cricket, where he is the highest runscorer across that period, for his success in Mirpur. "I performed well in domestic cricket, so I was confident that I would do well. I was a little bit nervous when I was playing the first ball, but then once I scored my first run I began to feel better and more confident.
"In the last 2 years I played 33 first-class matches, and I performed really well in first-class cricket. The domestic cricket we've played gave us the kind of pitches to prepare for this green track. We got all kinds of pitches, and used a heavy Dukes ball so we knew how we'd have to play on these kinds of tracks. In your debut match, there's always pressure but thankfully I absorbed it well."
