Batting at No.3, Shehzad walked out with the scorecard reading 56-1 in the first innings of the clash in Lahore. The Pakistan international, who has not played a Test match since 2017, started the tournament with knocks of 44, 102*, 13 and 65, and ensured he carried on against Peshawar, and reached his double hundred with a huge straight six.

It was only the second time in his first-class career that he reached the landmark, having earlier scored 254 for Habib Bank Limited in 2010, against Faisalabad.

Shehzad was eventually dismissed for a 409-ball 253, falling one short of his career-best score. He was bowled by Sajid Khan and departed after hitting 30 fours and one six. His innings propelled Lahore to 568.

Shehzad played 13 Tests for Pakistan, averaging 40.91, with three hundreds and four fifties. He averaged 28.40 in a series against Sri Lanka in 2015 and did not play another Test for nearly two years. He was called up to the Pakistan XI for two Tests against West Indies in April 2017, scoring 31, 6, 70 and 14 and has not played a Test since.

The 31-year-old did not take part in last year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and made his last hundred in first-class cricket in 2019, before reaching three figures earlier this season.

He has scored 477 runs this season at an average of 119.25. Before this game, he had played 94 first-class games, making 6,361 runs at an average of 41.57 with 15 tons and 37 fifties.

Watch the highlights of Ahmed Shehzad’s knock here:

.@iamAhmadshahzad amassed a fine double century earlier today 👏

He continues his charge against Peshawar 🏏#QeAT | #LHRWvPSH pic.twitter.com/OPTWxykXXS

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 5, 2023