Pakistan’s Tayyab Arif celebrates with teammate Azan Awais after scoring his fifty. (AP Photo)
Minhas scored 52 off 72 balls, including nine fours and a six. He shared a 44-run partnership with Saud Shakeel, who narrowly missed out on a century after making 93 off 193 deliveries. Tayyab (57 off 51) and Taha (51 off 105) also contributed half-centuries to Pakistan’s commanding total, underlining the impact of the new faces in the playing XI. Saqib later claimed the wicket of Lahiru Udara, who had scored an aggressive 42 off 47 balls with seven boundaries.
Pakistan’s bold Test squad overhaul is already paying rich dividends, with three debutants scripting a rare piece of cricket history against Sri Lanka in the ongoing first Test in Rawalpindi. Tayyab Arif, Mohammad Taha and Arafat Minhas all scored half-centuries in Pakistan’s first innings, making it only the second time in Test cricket that three debutants have reached fifty in the same innings.
Udara edged a loose drive to wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori after surviving an earlier reprieve.