Sajid Khan's inner warrior came to the fore on Friday (October 25, 2024), as the Pakistan off-spinner wielded his willow to deleterious effect despite getting smacked in the chin and blood dripping over his shirt. The England bowlers bore the brunt of Sajid's fury as Pakistan took charge of the Rawalpindi Test. (Highlights | Streaming)
After producing a nine-wicket haul in the second Test in Multan to help Pakistan level the series 1-1, Sajid began the third Test with six wickets in the first innings. He then came in to bat at No. 10 when the hosts were still two runs behind England's first-innings total, and smashed an unbeaten 48 off 48 balls, studded with four sixes and two fours.
Sajid's 72-run partnership with centurion Saud Shakeel (134 runs off 223 balls) helped Pakistan take a 77-run lead. But that was not even the most striking part of the 31-year-old's display.
When Sajid was batting on 37, he tried to shuffle across his stumps and paddle leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, but got a top edge onto his chin instead. The impact was hard, and blood began to gush out on his shirt but Sajid didn't relent. After a little help from the physios, Sajid continued to bat and clobbered Rehan for a six.
The onslaught continued and had Zahid Mahmood not been dismissed for a golden duck, Sajid could well have completed his fifty. You can watch the video of Sajid's daredevil hitting below.
After the innings, the off-spinner went for stitches but returned to bowl four overs and dismissed Ben Duckett before the close of play. England crumbled to 24-3 on a day that belonged entirely to the home team.
Later, talking about his batting heroics, Sajid said: "Two stitches on it (the cut he picked up on his jaw). Playing for the country, so such things don't matter. The team needs me. In domestics, I have a few fifties, but in internationals, my duty is to help the set of batters that are out there. Today Saud was there and I had to support him."
