KARACHI: Azhar Ali returned to competitive cricket with a well paced ton on the first day of the second round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy match between his side Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and United Bank Limited (UBL).

Azhar Ali who was rested for the ODI series against Sri Lanka because of a knee injury, made a come back in the domestic circuit by scoring a century for SNGPL. Ali also completed 10,000 first class runs with this ton. Pakistan’s next assignment is an ODI series and T20I series in New Zealand for which the squad is yet to be announced. However, Azhar Ali who was part of the side that won the Champions Trophy earlier this year in June will be in line for a recall to the ODI side.

In testing conditions of New Zealand, Pakistan will be in need of a solid opening pair, and while both Imam ul Haq and Fakhar Zaman have laid their claims by hitting a ton each in their short careers, the experience of Ali will be vital to steady Pakistan’s batting lineup.

Pakistan will go into the ODI series against New Zealand with an unbeaten ODI streak of nine matches.