Anwar Ali scores 50 years for Gloucestershire on debut

 Pakistani all-rounder adds 104 for the eighth wicket with Graeme van Buuren to assist Gloucestershire with posting 278 against Northamptonshire

Anwar Ali plays a shot during Gloucestershire's match against Northamptonshire. 

KARACHI: Pakistani all-rounder Anwar Ali scored 50 years for Gloucestershire during his English district Rundown A season debut on Friday.

Anwar, coming in to bat at number nine, scored 61 off 56 conveyances. His innings included two shots over the wall and three strokes to the limit.

He likewise added 104 for the eighth wicket with Graeme van Buuren to assist Gloucestershire with posting 278 against Northamptonshire at Cheltenham on Friday.

This is Anwar's very first trip for any district group in Britain in any organization of the game.

The 35-year-old all-rounder, who was once named the best all-rounder in the nation, has addressed Pakistan in 22 ODI and 16 T20Is. He last played for the country in 2016.

In 2021, Anwar reported his retirement from top-notch cricket to completely zero in on white-ball cricket.

The cricketer let Geo News know that he decided to follow the third round of the Quaid-e-Azam Prize and passed this on to the group on the board.

"I think the opportunity has arrived to abandon the spot for a young person to succeed in five-star cricket. There is much thumping on the entryways for an open door in Sindh's most memorable XI side. I accept it is vital to offer them a chance," Anwar said.

He invalidated reports that the choice was because of a conflict with Abu Dhabi T10 Associations.

"My retirement doesn't have anything to do with my agreements with associations. This isn't the initial time, I've been playing both — associations and homegrown cricket, and there was no impact on my attitude with respect to that. I was mulling over everything throughout the previous few days," he said.