Pakistan middle-order batter Salman Ali Agha has revealed that his century celebration against Sri Lanka was dedicated to his young son and was not intended to send a message to his critics.
Agha scored his fourth ODI century in the tri-series opener against Sri Lanka on Sunday, helping Pakistan post 305 runs at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Pakistan went on to win the match by 37 runs after restricting Sri Lanka to 268.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Agha dismissed suggestions that his celebration was aimed at proving anyone wrong.
“I don’t have enough time to message someone or prove someone wrong. I love my cricket, I love batting and I like playing for Pakistan. That was only celebration and my little son watches TV like this, so the [celebration] was for him,” he said.
The century came after a difficult period for Agha, who had captained Pakistan in the opening Test against England before missing the second match. He was subsequently sent home as part of a major squad reshuffle that saw seven players released ahead of the third Test.
Following his return, Agha played five matches for Kingsmen Academy in the President’s Trophy Grade-I, including an unbeaten 300 against Markhor IT (MIT) Solutions in his first appearance.
He was later replaced by Sahibzada Farhan as Pakistan’s T20I captain and was left out of the squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won 2-1.
During the press conference, Agha also criticized the lack of recognition given to domestic cricket, saying performances at that level should not be underestimated.
“I think we don’t give enough respect to our domestic cricket. The conditions there are not that easy and scoring runs is not an easy job. Otherwise, everyone would go there and score runs,” he said.
The batter also questioned the tendency of former cricketers to downplay domestic performances on social media, stressing that players must perform well to score runs in challenging conditions.
“If a player like me scores runs in domestic cricket, former cricketers say on social media that he has scored runs in domestic cricket, but scoring runs there is not that easy. You have to play well to score runs there,” he added.
Agha said players who earn international opportunities through consistent domestic performances deserve recognition. He pointed to his own 10-year journey in domestic cricket and cited Saud Shakeel and Saad Baig as other examples of players who had performed at that level.
“I don’t think this is a good message either, because the players who come from there after performing have earned it. I was performing there for 10 years before I came into international cricket. Saud Shakeel was also there, and Saad Baig has performed in domestic cricket and did well today,” he said.
“I think the time has come to give domestic cricket the respect it deserves,” he concluded.
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