Fawad Alam quits Pakistan cricket to move to USA - Reports

Pakistan cricketer Fawad Alam has reportedly called on time on his career with the men's national team because of a lack of opportunities. The 37-year-old will now ply his trade in the USA cricket circuit.

Alam, who made his international debut in 2007, went on to play 19 Tests, 38 One-Day Internationals and 24 T20 Internationals for Pakistan. His presence in the national side was sporadic in a close to 15-year international career, with his last appearance coming in the Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle last year.

According to a Cricbuzz report, Fawad Alam will turn out as a local player for Chicago Kingsmen in the Minor League Cricket T20, a developmental league for the recently-concluded Major League Cricket.

The Karachi-born player will join the likes of Hammad Azam, Sami Aslam, Saif Badar and Mohammad Mohsin in shifting to the USA from Pakistan for better opportunities.

Alam compiled 2,171 runs in 81 international matches for Pakistan across formats at an average of 35.59, including eight fifties and six centuries. He finished his domestic career in Pakistan with 14,526 First-Class runs in 201 matches and 6,577 runs in 203 List-A games.

Fawad Alam's wait in Test cricket didn't pay off

The southpaw toiled in the domestic circuit to earn his selection in the red-ball format based on consistency. He played three Tests for Pakistan in 2009, where he made 168 on his debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Fawad Alam had to wait for 11 years further for a callback to the Test side. He scored centuries against New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the West Indies to mark his return to international cricket.

A dip in form in the home series against Australia (33 runs in four innings) in 2022 was followed by Alam scoring just 25 runs in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. This also happened to be his last game in the Pakistan shirt.