Faisal Iqbal completes 10,000 First-Class career runs

By Afshan Younis

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 15, 2012: Pakistan’s experienced middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal has completed 10,000 runs in First-Class cricket career.

Faisal Iqbal, 30, achieved the feat during second day of the President’s Trophy match between the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Representing the Pakistan International Airlines, Faisal Iqbal, who is nephew of legendary Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad, needed 14 runs to complete his 10,000 First-Class Career Runs which he achieved during an innings which eventually proved the top score for his team.

Faisal Iqbal made 31 runs during the PIA innings which was culminated at 101 all out in response to the SNGPL’s first innings total of 234 runs.

The PIA need more from their senior batsmen including Shoaib Malik who failed to give his wife Sania Mirza a birthday present as he could only manage 10 runs during the struggling PIA innings.

Faisal Iqbal is playing in his 177^th First-Class match and during 277 innings the right-hand batsman has scored 10,014 runs at a healthy average of 40.21 with the help of 22 hundreds and 55 half centuries. Faisal has also taken 149 catches during his First-Class career.

Despite of a glittering First-Class career, Faisal Iqbal has never been a permanent member of the national cricket team as he has played only 26 Test matches where in 44 innings he has scored 1,124 runs at an average of 26.76 hitting a century and eight half centuries. His highest Test score is 139 runs which he made against India in Karachi in 2006.