Pakistan‘s centurion Haris Sohail revealed he cut out all the noise, including some verbal taunts from the Australian players, to notch up his maiden international century during the first Test in Dubai.
Sohail dug deep to score 110 off 240 balls in tough conditions on a slow pitch and heavy outfield against a disciplined Australian attack. The century was a big relief for Sohail as he had made two 39s during the Test series in England and a 28.
Those starts gave Sohail the confidence that runs are just round the corner. And even a few words from an Australian side made to field for nearly two days in the Dubai heat didn’t knock him off course.
“When you score your first Test ton, the excitement is different. In the previous series in England I got out in the 30s. But I learned a lot from those 30s as I panicked there at times. My effort in this innings was to not panic. I knew the runs would come,” Sohail said after the end of day two in Dubai.
“I am straightforward man. If (the Australians) did say something to me … I didn’t even look at them to be honest. They did say a couple of things but it went in one ear and out of the other,” the left-handed batsman added.
Following the ball-tampering and sledging scandal in South Africa earlier in the year, Australian players including Tim Paine have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from that ‘ugly’ image. But it looks like there is still some room for a few words when the pressure is on.
Sohail said scoring was tough against the old ball and a heavy outfield but maintained the team is pleased with their score of 482, even though they looked set for a bigger total after being 410-4 at one stage.
“At one stage the seam came off the ball. They didn’t take the new ball,” he added. “The ball became so soft, it was very difficult to score runs even when you timed the ball well. We knew when the new ball would come we would score runs. And that’s exactly what happened.
“On this pitch, where runscoring is difficult, the pitch is slow and the outfield is heavy, it is a good score.”
