Photo via Hindustan Times

Pakistan sent him home, Salman Ali Agha went ‘back to basics’ and returned with a stunning maiden triple century

After captaining Pakistan at Headingley during the opening fixture of their tour of England while Babar Azam was sidelined, 32-year-old Salman Ali Agha suffered a sudden reversal of fortunes. Following a lopsided loss, he was dropped for the subsequent match at Lord's and subsequently became one of seven squad members discarded and sent back home amid a 0-2 series deficit.

Upon re-entering local red-ball competition, his spouse marked his turnaround on social media by emphasizing the virtue of returning to fundamentals with humility.

Taking the crease for Kingsmen Academy with the scorecard reeling at 72/3 against Markhor IT Solutions in the President's Trophy Grade-I opener, the all-rounder spearheaded a resilient turnaround. He combined with Mohammad Suleman for an undefeated 185-run stand to reach 101 by the initial day's close, before transforming that effort into his first-ever first-class triple ton.