Azan Awais joins elite club with debut Test hundred in away series

Pakistan’s opening batter Azan Awais made an impressive start to his Test career, scoring a century on debut against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Starting the third day unbeaten on 85, the left-hander reached his hundred in the 51st over of Pakistan’s innings by nudging a single off Bangladesh pacer Nahid Rana. Azan’s innings ended shortly after reaching the milestone, as he was dismissed for 103 off 165 balls by experienced Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed. His knock included 14 boundaries before he returned to the pavilion. With this knock, the 21-year-old became the 14th Pakistan player to register a century on Test debut, joining a distinguished group that includes legends such as Javed Miandad, Younis Khan, and Fawad Alam. The first Pakistani to achieve this milestone in Test cricket was Khalid Ibadulla, while Yasir Hameed remains unique for scoring centuries in both innings of his debut match. Azan also joined a rare group of Pakistani batters who have scored a debut Test hundred away from home. Before him, only Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam had managed this feat, doing so in Dunedin and Colombo respectively in 2009. Pakistan players with hundreds on Test debut: Khalid Ibadulla – 166 vs Australia (1964) Javed Miandad – 163 vs New Zealand (1976) Saleem Malik – 100* vs Sri Lanka (1982) Mohammad Wasim – 109* vs New Zealand (1996) Ali Naqvi – 115 vs South Africa (1997) Azhar Mahmood – 128* vs South Africa (1997) Younis Khan – 107 vs Sri Lanka (2000) Taufeeq Umar – 104 vs Bangladesh (2001) Yasir Hameed – 170 & 105 vs Bangladesh (2003) Fawad Alam – 168 vs Sri Lanka (2009) Umar Akmal – 129 vs New Zealand (2009) Abid Ali – 109* vs Sri Lanka (2019) Kamran Ghulam – 114 vs England (2024) Azan Awais – 103 vs Bangladesh (2026) Babar Azam ruled out of first Bangladesh Test with knee injury