For fans following the career and progress of young Fawad Alam, his memorable comeback performance against Bangladesh on Tuesday came as no surprise.

He came to the crease at a time when Pakistan — chasing a mammoth total of 327 — had lost three quick wickets. Straightaway, he started rebuilding the innings in the company of Ahmed Shahzad and kept Pakistan in the hunt with a century stand.

He kept his composure despite losing Ahmed and Abdul Rehman in quick succession and played second fiddle to a rampant Shahid Afridi in a sensational 69-run stand before taking the responsibility himself, smashing two clean sixes and settling the result of the match beyond any doubt. He was eventually dismissed for a 70-ball 74.

Fawad made his way into the Pakistan side back in 2006-07 following some sterling performances at the domestic circuit and has remained a prolific scorer, averaging 56 in the first-class format — the best among his contemporaries — with a career-best of 296 not out.

Revealing the secret of his success, he said recently: “I take every match very seriously and try to perform well in every match.”

Fawad made a dream Test debut when he became only the 10th Pakistani batsman to score a century in his maiden game (the first Pakistani to achieve the feat overseas). After failing in the first innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 2008, he opened the batting in the next innings with Pakistan facing a huge deficit.

After losing his opening partner early, he put on 200 runs with his captain Younis Khan. Remembering that match, he said, “I was obviously thrilled when I learnt that I was going to play my first Test. The team had some fitness problems and therefore Younis asked me to open. I got out for 16 in the first innings in the total of 90. I had a chat with my father the same night over the phone, he encouraged me and predicted that I will score a century in the next innings.” Fawad went on to score 168 in that innings.

Despite this rare achievement, Fawad has only played two more Tests since and has not been selected for the Test XI for more than four years now.

He has, however, been part of Pakistan’s ODI team on a much more frequent basis.

His first fifty came against Hong Kong in the 2008 Asia Cup.

“My first ODI half-century was memorable; we were 161-7 and I shared in a 100-run partnership with Sohail Tanvir for the eighth wicket,” he said.

Fawad came to the team’s rescue after the likes of Mohammad Yousuf, Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq were back in the pavilion and the pair saved Pakistan from possible embarrassment.

He seems to relish opportunities where he is required to show his temperament in crises.

In his brief career, he has been involved in quite a few rearguard actions. His 63 against Australia at Perth in 2009-10 and the series-saving 64 against England at The Oval in 2010-11 show that the youngster thrives in such circumstances.

Another important innings from him came against South Africa during the ODI which is better remembered for the miraculous innings of Razzaq. Pakistan were 70-4 chasing a mammoth 287 when Afridi joined Fawad.

Fawad played a perfect foil to Afridi in a 66-run partnership off 11 overs to bring Pakistan back into the match. Following Afridi’s dismissal, he and Razzaq put on 81 runs in 12 overs.

He, however, played down his own contribution in that match.

“Everyone knows what Afridi and Razzaq are capable of. When Afridi started to whack the ball around, I thought we had a reasonable chance of winning. Then Razzaq joined the party and played an absolute blinder,” he said.

When asked whether such situations bring the best out of him, he said: “I always try to follow the instructions of my coach and captain. They obviously feel that I am capable of tackling such situations.”

Fawad was dropped from the team following this series in which he scored 123 at an average of 31. He wasn’t recalled for the 2011 World Cup.

“I was dropped for the ODI series against New Zealand and could not earn a place for the World Cup,” he said.

“Representing one’s country in a World Cup is every player’s dream, hence getting dropped all of a sudden was obviously disappointing for me. However, such setbacks are part and parcel of one’s career and I try to take these things in my stride.”

There is a general impression among fans that Fawad does not possess the necessary firepower to succeed in limited-overs cricket. Fawad brushes aside such suggestions.

“I was the third highest scorer for Pakistan in ODIs in 2010 (the year in which he was last dropped). Only Afridi and Umar Akmal scored more runs,” he said.

Fawad scored 393 runs in 13 matches at an average of 36 during 2010.

Asked whether he would consider changing his style just to be more popular and acceptable to fans, he responded: “To me, being consistent is the main thing. I have managed to remain consistent and maintain a healthy strike rate through my own style of batting and there is no reason why I should change it.”

He points out at his breezy cameo against Sri Lanka at King City.

“Another memorable innings was the eight-ball unbeaten 23 against Sri Lanka in Canada. I hit three sixes towards the end of the run chase. The situation required me to be aggressive and I showed that I was up to the task.”

With the World Cup 2015 not too far away, Fawad has made a timely return to the national fold.

Admittedly, he does not have that star value attached to his more glamorous team-mates primarily because of the way he bats which is rather unfashionable in a country where the fans prefer flair over doggedness. However, as long as Fawad continues to go about his job with the same diligence, there is no doubt that he will an important cog in Pakistan’s batting wheel for a few years to come.

Email: syed.mustafa@hotmail.com

Twitter: @MustafaFairplay