Twitterati laud Haris Sohail’s debut Test knock

When the Pakistan selectors decided to pick Haris Sohail ahead of Fawad Alam, there was a lot of noise in their cricketing circles. While the former has not played any first-class cricket in the last two years the latter has piled on the runs in domestic cricket. They stuck with the decision and also handed him his debut cap in the first Test of the series against Pakistan.

And boy did he prove them right? He’d have heard all the chatter ahead of his Test debut but decided to answer them with his grit. He walked in to bat when the team was sliding, after Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed got out in quick succession. There was little hope for Pakistan to now swipe off the deficit.

Sohail stitched important partnerships with the lower order batsmen and didn’t just deny the Lankan bowlers easy wickets but also kept the scoreboard rolling. He scored a half century as Hasan Ali partnered him with a brilliant 29. The left-hander lost partners but kept getting the runs and soon they had cleared off the trail.

By the time he was dismissed as the last wicket in the innings, Sohail had scored 76 runs, the best part of his innings was not the seven boundaries and two sixes that he hit but the desire he displayed to stick on the wicket and the determination to do it even though he just had the not so competent tail for company. On the back of this effort, Pakistan managed a slender 2-run lead in the first innings.

His 76 is now the highest score by a Pakistan batsman batting at No.6 on debut. Twitterati was impressed with his knock and chose this as the opportunity to shut those who were questioning Sohail’s Test selection.

Here are some of the best reactions that emerged during and after his knock:

Haris Sohail scores a half-century in his 1st first-class match since January 2014 and on Test debut ? #Cricket #PAKvSL

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) October 1, 2017

He was advised to have an operation he didn't need & wrong diagnosis of injury. Fantastic to see Haris Sohail back for Pakistan #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) October 1, 2017

Harris Sohail is a class act in ODIs. . hope he becomes a regular feature for Pakistan. Good to see him score in tests too!

— Yahoodi (@SabzzPassport) October 1, 2017

If anyone doesn't know about the class of Harris Sohail, he must check the reaction of Dhoni when Ashwin got him out in WC 15.

— Ameer Bakhsh Khosa (@AmeerKhan072) October 1, 2017

Harris Sohail's inning saved our face, tbh. An innings of 50+ ,under pressure, at your debut is something really remarkable. #PAKvSL

— Mahnoor Maqsood (@Mah_noorMaqsood) October 1, 2017

Harris Sohail has proved me wrong
Batting at 6, he ticked all the boxes

— Waqar Hafeez (@WaqarEY) October 1, 2017

Harris sohail & fawad Alam should both be kept chasing each other for healthy competition to get place in team.

— KS (@drkshahzad) October 1, 2017

Well played Harris sohail and proved his selection ?

— Ma5uD (@ma5ud84) October 1, 2017

Fawad Alam might as well burn his bat after that 76 from Harris Sohail. A test recall was slim to begin with…its now impossible! #PAKvSL

— Carlos (@RealCarlito_32) October 1, 2017

Fifty for Harris Sohail-
First of Many, Now Go on and gets a Hundred Man.

— Tanzeel (@Tanzeelified) October 1, 2017

Harris Sohail played good test knock. All credit goes to him.

— Awais Ahmad (@rajput_awais) October 1, 2017

Harris sohail is back ❤️❤️???? Excellent innings @TheRealPCB @SarfarazA_54

— Sunny Afridian10 o/ (@sunnymirza_10) October 1, 2017

What a knock Harris Sohail. Truly a match saviour innings. What a time to perform on debut. #PAKvSL

— Fazal Farooq Malik (@FazalFMalik) October 1, 2017

Well played Harris sohail..a matured calm and composed inning???

— Hafiz Shakir Patel (@hafizshakir777) October 1, 2017

Delight to watch harris sohail playing with such calmness and style. Been always saying this, he is a good pick. Keep on going lad #PAKvSL

— Salman (@suliman651) October 1, 2017

Just love Harris Sohail. Could really be Pakistan's lifeline in both ODIs and Tests in the years to come.#PAKvSL

— Ali. (@daPakistanidude) October 1, 2017

Well played Harris Sohail, havnt played a single first class match since 2014. Fifty on debut ?.
Hasan Ali u beauty played a ripper cameo,3 big sixes.#PAKvSL#SlvPak

— Madni (@Xtylish007) October 1, 2017