75 years of independence: Pakistan cricket team achievements

 

Cricket is not the national sport of Pakistan, but in the last 75 years, if there is any sport in which Pakistan has achieved frequent success, then it is this sport.

Pakistan getting Test status just five years after its formation was by all accounts a great achievement for a new nation with no shortage of stadiums and experience.

Be it winning first place in Test cricket or winning the World Cup in ODIs and T20 Internationals, the Pakistan cricket team conquered every arena and popularized the game. Here's a look at 10 victories whose significance cannot be forgotten despite the passage of time.

England lost the Test match on its soil

In this match played at the Oval in 1954, there was a strong English team on one side and on the other side a Pakistan team that had entered Test cricket only two years earlier. But under the captaincy of Abdul Hafeez Kardar, this fledgling team showed a performance that no one expected.

When the fourth and final Test match of the series was being played, England had a one-nil lead over Pakistan in the four-match series.

On a difficult wicket, Pakistan scored 133 runs in the first innings and 164 runs in the second.

Captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar was the top scorer with 36 runs, while Wazir Muhammad's 43 not out in the second innings took Pakistan out of trouble.

The star-studded team under the leadership of English captain Sir Lynn Hutton was bundled out for 130 in the first innings and 143 in the second innings.

Pakistani bowler Fazal Mehmood dismissed a total of 12 players. Thus, Pakistan created history by defeating the English team on their soil.

World champion India misses out on a sure victory

In April 1986, the Australasian Asia Cup was played, in which the teams of Australia and New Zealand competed in addition to India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The final of the first Australasian Asia Cup was not between traditional rivals India and Pakistan, but this match was between two teams, one of which was the then world champion while the other side was a team that had not won any trophy.

Sunil Gavaskar's 92 while Srikanth and Vengsarkar's half-centuries helped India set Pakistan a target of 246 for victory, a chase which Pakistan was struggling from the start.

In such a situation, Javed Miandad's smoky innings not only got Pakistan out of trouble, but when four runs were required off the last ball of the match, he hit fast bowler Chetan Sharma for a six that resonates to this day.

 

He played a brilliant innings of 116 runs off just 114 balls to give Pakistan victory in an international tournament for the first time.

This success was followed by an endless series of victories that continues to this day.

Pakistan wins Test series in India for the first time

In Test cricket, Pakistan had achieved success against India in India in its very first Test series, but it had to wait 40 years to defeat India in a Test series.

In the year 1987, when the teams of the two countries were competing in the fifth and final Test of the series in Bangalore, the series was a draw.

Both captains Imran Khan and Kapil Dev tried to win the match and take the series.

In such a situation, Pakistan's decision to drop leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and include left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim in the team proved beneficial.

Along with off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed, the duo played a vital role in guiding Pakistan to victory and winning the first series in India.

Both the spinners took five wickets in the first innings and four each in the second innings to make India's strong team two-for-four in defeat at home.

This match was the last Test match of Indian legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar's career, in which even his innings of 96 runs could not save India from defeat.

Imran Khan's all-round performance and victory in the Nehru Cup

The Nehru Cup was played in India in 1989 in connection with the birth centenary celebrations of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.

Apart from host India, teams from Pakistan, England, West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka participated in the Nehru Cup.

The final of the event was played between Pakistan and West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

West Indies set Pakistan a target of 274 runs to win the title thanks to Desmond Haynes' 107 runs.

Pakistan achieved this target in the last over of the match one ball before the last ball.

The highlight of the match was Imran Khan's unbeaten half-century and three wickets.

In the last over of the match when Pakistan needed three runs from two balls to win, Wasim Akram hit Viv Richards for a six to win the match for Pakistan.

This was Pakistan's first win in any ODI tournament in India, in which more than two teams participated. After this victory, the Pakistan cricket team got the motivation due to which they set their sights on the World Cup.

Defeated England, Pakistan world champion in 1992

Whenever the history of Pakistan cricket is written, the World Cup played in 1992 will definitely be mentioned first.

When the Cricket World Cup was held in Australia in 1992, Pakistan was surprised to reach the final as the team did not have Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar or Abdul Qadir, who were out injured.

At Melbourne, he was up against an English team full of all-rounders, with N Botham at the helm.

In the biggest match, Pakistan set a target of 250 runs thanks to Imran Khan's 72 runs and Javed Miandad's 58 runs.

In reply, thanks to Neil Fairbrother's 62 and Alan Lamb's 31 runs, England fought well, but when Wasim Akram bowled first Lamb and then Chris Lewis one after the other, Pakistan's victory was assured.

When tail-ender Richard Alngworth got out on Imran Khan's ball, the England team was 22 runs away from victory and thus Pakistan won the World Cup and made a place in history.

Success in tri-nation series led by Wasim Akram

Five years after the World Cup, in December 1996 and January 1997, a tri-series was played between Pakistan, West Indies and Australia in Australia itself.

In this series, the three teams played eight eight matches, while Pakistan and West Indies reached the best-of-three final due to more points.

Pakistan had won the first match in the best-of-three final. When the Pakistan team played their second final in Melbourne, they did not have the experienced Javed Miandad, nor Imran Khan in front of a strong West Indies team.

In such a situation, Pakistan had a one-nil lead due to winning the first final of the series, along with the fact that the team was full of young players, whose brilliant performance had knocked out the host Australian team from the final.

In the second final of the best-of-three event, Pakistan set West Indies a target of 165 runs for victory thanks to Ijaz Ahmed's 45 runs and Mohammad Wasim's 41 runs.

In reply, the West Indian batsmen looked helpless in front of the nippy bowling of Shahid Nazir and Wasim Akram.

Both the players took three wickets each and forced the opposing team to kneel down.

Kurtley Ambrose put up some resistance by scoring 31 runs, but the whole team could score only 103 runs.

Thus, under the leadership of Wasim Akram, the Pakistan cricket team once again returned home victorious from Melbourne and managed to get the trophy of the three-nation series.

Victory in the T20 World Cup under the leadership of Younis Khan

After the advent of T20 cricket, it started to be preferred over ODI cricket, due to which the importance of T20 World Cup increased. When the second edition was played in 2009, Pakistan were the only team to reach the final for the second consecutive time.

When the teams of Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced each other in the final, everyone was declaring the mighty Sri Lanka as the favorite instead of the inexperienced Pakistan.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara's unbeaten 64 took Sri Lanka to 138 in the final, but Abdul Razzak and Mohammad Amir, who silenced Tillakaratne Dilshan, Santh Jayasuriya and Mahila Jayawardene, saw Pakistan win. laid the foundation

Thanks to Shahid Afridi's smoky half-century, Pakistan achieved the desired target at the loss of two wickets in the 19th over.

Thus, at Lord's, under the leadership of Younis Khan, the Green Shirts won the honor of being T20 champions for the first time.

Misbah-ul-Haq's first Test Test under the leadership

The 'Test Mess' has the same place in Test cricket as the World Cup trophy in ODIs.

In 2016, when the Pakistan team led by Misbah-ul-Haq ended the season at the ICC's number one ranking, they were given the Test match.

Pakistan had to defeat England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on their soil while England, Australia and New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates to win the Test match and in all these matches, Pakistan was led by Misbah-ul-Haq.

The highlight of this success was Pakistan not playing a single match on its home soil, where international cricket was not played between 2009 and 2019 due to security concerns.

Pakistan defeated West Indies for the first time in the series

Pakistan's streak of victories under the leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq continued even after winning the Test match.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq along with teammate Younis Khan marked their last Test match with a stunning victory that will be remembered for years.

This match was played between Pakistan and West Indies at Windsor Park in 2017, successfully winning Pakistan's first Test series against West Indies.

On the final day of the match, when Yasir Shah was about to bowl his last ball, he was facing West Indian No. 11 Shannon Gabriel. He was not out on runs.

Yasir Shah bowled the West Indian tail-ender on his last ball and played a vital role in giving Pakistan a 101-run victory.

It was Yasir Shah's fifth wicket in the innings and eighth overall in the match, which took Pakistan away from this historic victory.

Champion's trophy under Sarfaraz Ahmed's leadership

The ICC Champions Trophy was last held in 2017, in which Pakistan's victory in the final proved to be the beginning of the career of many players.

The final match was played between Pakistan and India. This match was also significant as India had easily defeated Pakistan in the league match of the same tournament, due to which the morale of their players was high.

However, under the leadership of Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Pakistan team appeared in a new form. Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali, who came to the team in place of Ahmed Shehzad, added 128 runs in 23 overs and provided a great opening stand for the team.

Fakhar Zaman, who was dismissed on a no ball by Indian bowler Jasprit Bhamra, took full advantage of this opportunity. He played an innings of 114 runs off 106 balls.

After his dismissal, Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez's smoky batting took Pakistan's score to 338 runs for four wickets.

Mohammad Amir's aggressive bowling did not give the Indian batsmen a chance to play openly.

By dismissing openers Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli for low runs, he broke the back of the Indian batting line-up, which was further damaged by Hasan Ali's three wickets.

According to observers, Pakistan not only avenged the defeat given at the beginning of the tournament by dismissing India for 158 runs, but also won the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time.