On Thursday, Pakistan cricketer Fawad Alam returned to the Test fold after 11 years. He had scored a hundred on debut in 2009 against Sri Lanka in Colombo but his red-ball career did not take off. He continued playing limited-overs cricket.
After two Tests against the Islanders and one against New Zealand a decade ago, the left-handed batsman made the final XI for the second Test against England in Southampton in August 2020.
He isn’t the only cricketer to have waited this long.
John Traicos had made his Test debut representing South Africa in 1970. He was part of the three-Test series against Australia but thereafter, South Africa was banned from international cricket due to apartheid.
The off-spinner moved to Zimbabwe and was even part of the 1983 World Cup. On return to Test cricket, he picked up a five-for against India in Harare; his victims were Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Venkatapathy Raju and Manoj Prabhakar.
Nottinghamshire legend George Gunn played all his 15 Tests outside England till 1911-12. World War I paused sporting activities in between and he fell out of favour. The right-hander, who scored 35,208 first-class runs, returned in the 1929-30 season to tour the West Indies.
In the recent years, England all-rounder Gareth Batty had made a Test comeback after 11 years. His last appearance was against India in Mohali in 2016.
Stats by Rajneesh Gupta
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