Pakistan batter Salman Agha has revealed that time spent at domestic level proved pivotal in his turnaround in form that saw him lead the side to victory in the opening match of their home tri-series against Sri Lanka and England.
Pakistan took on Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on Sunday to commence their ODI tri-series and Agha blossomed with the bat and put a forgettable recent period behind him with a superb century in what was his first international appearance since August.
In recent times, Agha has been dropped from Pakistan's T20I and Test side and lost the captaincy in the shortest format, with the 32-year-old forced to go back to domestic cricket to regain touch ahead of this tri-series on home soil.
Agha hit an unbeaten triple-century for Kingsmen in Pakistan's domestic President's Trophy Grade-I competition in mid-September and then added a further hundred at the same level at the end of last month to ensure he remained on the selectors' radar.
It proved the perfect antidote for Agha, with the right-hander crediting his time at domestic level for his Player of the Match performance with the bat against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
"I feel that we don't give enough respect to our domestic cricket," Agha said after his innings of 107 from just 90 deliveries against Sri Lanka.
"People think conditions there are very easy and scoring runs is a walk in the park—which isn't true, otherwise everyone would go and score. When a player like me scores runs there, social media, ex-cricketers, or the media often downplay it by saying, 'Oh, he just scored runs in domestic [cricket]'.
"Let me tell you, scoring runs in domestic cricket is not easy. You have to go there, play well, and fight for your runs; otherwise, runs simply don't come. It's unfortunate when people talk down about domestic cricket, because players who come up through that system—like me, after 10 years of domestic cricket followed by four or four and a half years of international performance, or Saud [Shakeel], who also came through domestic cricket and played so well today—deserve recognition. Many others do too.
"It’s time we all respect domestic cricket. Instead of saying that scoring in domestic cricket is easy when an international player goes back out of form and performs there, we should appreciate it. Look at me: I came back after playing five domestic matches. My batting alignment and mechanics were out of place, but I went there, played, performed, and improved significantly. Today, by the grace of Allah, that success translated here. It’s time to give domestic cricket the respect it deserves."
While Agha admitted he was disappointed to get dropped from the T20I side and then overlooked completely during the Test tour of England after he captained the first match in Leeds, the experienced international performer said he used the time away from the top level to work hard on his game to try and cope with the spotlight and the pressure upon finding his best form.
"I mean, three or four Test matches didn't go well, but I had been performing consistently for four years before that," Agha noted.
"So I don't think being in or out of the limelight changes things drastically.
"But yes, when you face a rough patch in international cricket, getting out of it isn't easy because you are playing high-risk cricket under immense pressure against the best professionals in the world.
"Form going down and then climbing back up takes time. That was the case with me too."
Agha and Pakistan are back in action on Tuesday when they take on England in Rawalpindi again.