Downfall Of Pakistan Test Cricket

There was a time when Pakistan’s Test team was considered one of the strongest teams in the world. In the 80s and 90s, when players like Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis were in the Pakistan Test team, Pakistani test team was one of the strongest teams in the world, comparable to Teams like Australia, England and India.

These Teams could easily be beaten at their home. Under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistani team has been the No 1 team in Test cricket. Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy and batsmen like Muhammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Younis Khan. Misbah-11 were capable of beating any team.

Downfall

Who knew that the same Pakistani team would be seen struggling to win the home Test against a smaller team like Bangladesh. After all, what is the reason that it took such a long time for the Pakistani team that ruled Test cricket that they are losing the home series to every team. And it is not even able to make a place in the top 5 in the test ranking. Despite having batsmen like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafiq and bowlers like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed, This team is not able to win a single Test match against a team like Bangladesh..

Pakistan Cricket Team Rise And Fall In Test Cricket

Even under the captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq before Younis Khan, Pakistan’s Test team could not show any good performance. In the captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan played a total of 31 matches, out of which Pakistan won only 11 matches, lost 10 matches and drew 9 matches. This era of Pakistani Test cricket was also surrounded by difficulties. Seeing the performance of the Pakistani team, people had reduced watching Test matches.

Some people used to watch the match of Pakistani team, that too only because of Shahid Afridi. As soon as Shahid Afridi was out, the ground would become empty. After Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan was made the captain of the Test team. . In the captaincy of Younis Khan, Pakistan played 9 matches out of which Pakistan won 1 match, lost 3 matches and 5 matches were drawn. After Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik was made captain of the Test team for three matches and Shahid Afridi for one match. And these two captains could not win a single match for the Pakistani team.

After him, Salman Butt is made the captain of the Test team. But unfortunately, Salman Butt was banned from cricket after playing only five matches due to match-fixing allegations.After that, Misbah-ul-Haq was made the captain of the Pakistan Test team. Under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistani team once again became one of the best teams in Test cricket. Pakistan whitewashed Sri Lanka twice under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq. Pakistan played a total of 56 matches under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq. Out of which Pakistan won 26, lost 19 and 11 matches were drawn.

Under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistani Test team was ranked number one. After the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali was made the captain of the Test team. Under whose captaincy, Pakistan could win only 2 out of 9 matches. Azhar Ali was removed from the Test captaincy due to his poor performance. After that, Sarfraz Ahmed was made the captain of Pakistan Test team. Even under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s Test team could not do anything special. The Pakistani team played a total of 13 matches, out of which only 4 were won, 8 were lost and 1 match was drawn. Muhammad Rizwan was made the captain for two matches after Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan lost both these matches.

Seeing Babarzam’s good performance in T20 and ODIs, he is also made the captain of the Test team. But still the Pakistani team is not able to cope. And the continuous downfall continues. Under the captaincy of Babar Azam, the Pakistani team played a total of 20 Test matches, out of which they won 10 matches and lost 6 matches. Out of the ten matches they won, 4 matches were against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Babar Azam is removed from the captaincy of all three formats after a disastrous defeat in the ODI World Cup 2023. In 2023, Shan Masood is made the captain of Pakistan’s Test team. After which the Pakistan Test team goes into the worst phase in the history of Test cricket. After Shan Masood became the captain, the Pakistani team lost the three-match series against Australia. What could be worse for Pakistani Test cricket than ,when the Pakistani team is whitewashed by a small team like Bangladesh in a home Test series.

Reasons Why Pakistan Is Overrated In Test Cricket

1. Team Selection Imbalances

One of the reasons for the downfall of Pakistan’s Test cricket is the imbalance in team selection. There is no proper Test batsman in Pakistan team. Pakistan introduces its new team in every new Test. New players do not even have the experience of playing Test matches. Which is a negative point for the Pakistani team. The batting positions of the players also keep changing due to the dropping of old players and the introduction of new players. Due to which the players are not able to perform well. Bowlers who perform well in Tests are not allowed to play. As Yasir Shah. The selection committee always fails to select a playing XI. The selection committee has to change the playing 11 in every upcoming match, which is a major reason for Pakistan’s failure in Test cricket

2. Grouping In Team

The practice of grouping players in the Pakistani team has been around for a long time. If the captain of the team is not made according to the will of the rest of the players, then those players turn against that captain and do not perform well, due to which the Pakistani team loses. Players hate each other, fight with each other, is the main reason for the team to lose. Politics has entered the Pakistani team. Due to which the Pakistani team is continuously suffering from downfall. Selecting players in the team on the basis of friendship is also a major reason for Pakistan’s failure. And the misfortune of Pakistan is that all this is still happening.

3. Coaching and Support Staff

Frequent changes in the coaching staff and support staff have affected the stability and development of the team. Due to constant change of coaching staff, the team does not get good practice. Due to which the team is not able to perform well.

4. Lack Of Attention Towards Test Cricket

Pakistan has no focus on Test cricket at all. Compared to t20 and ODI cricket, Test cricket gets very less attention. While other teams in the world pay special attention to Tests, the Pakistani team plays at most one series or a few matches in a year. The Pakistan team seems to be struggling in this too. Due to which the Pakistani team becomes unbalanced. There is a huge difference between the pitches in Asia and Europe. A cricket team that performs well in Pakistan also fails on European pitches.

5. Politics In Cricket

Is it all the fault of these 11 players who bowed their heads after losing the home Test series to Bangladesh? Absolutely not. PCBB is responsible for this. Which selects the chairman on the basis of politics. And then the chairman, in his passion for self-importance, issues decisions that can please his favorite journalistic circles. In the last 10 years only for three years has there been some stability in PCB. When Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan took some steps to improve domestic cricket. And has tried to groom the new boys through a modern coaching setup following the English model. But after a long time, as soon as that team was going to be stable, these chairmen are removed and replaced by other chairmen. who disapproved of this English model and ended it. Which was three years in the making and whose latest achievement was a Test series pak Clean Sweep South Africa for the first time in history. And that win over South Africa was the last home series – Pakistan have not won a home series since then. After that, PCB got four new chiefs, six new head coaches, six seven chief selectors, but no extent of decline has been decided yet.

6. Failure to Adapt to Modern Cricketing Standards

Pakistan’s inability to adapt to the modern standards of cricket has become evident when compared to teams like England and Australia and India.  In today’s Test cricket, fitness, special characters, and tactics are crucial to a team’s success. Teams like England, Australia and India use experiments and advanced sports science to improve the performance of their players. They pay special attention to the fitness of the players, their performance and their mental state. Which makes these teams among the best teams in the world. In their competitions, Pakistan is still playing old cricket. In which no attention is given to the fitness of the players. Pakistan’s Test cricket is far behind these teams. Pakistan has always failed to adapt to modern cricket. The Pakistani team is facing many challenges. Which brings him closer to the necklace. Such as inconsistent performances in the bid to qualify for the World Test Championship, imbalanced team selection, questionable captaincy decisions, internal politics, and failure to adapt to modern standards of cricket. Until Pakistan manages to address these fundamental issues, Pakistan’s Test cricket will continue to struggle for success.

7. Questionable Captaincy Decisions

A captain plays an important role in a team’s performance. A captain can take the team to great heights with his good captaincy. But Pakistan’s Test team has always suffered from imbalance in captaincy. Every year we see the captain of the Pakistani Test team change. This is affecting the performance of the Pakistani team. The change of captain also creates imbalance in the players. These days PCB is taking such decisions regarding the captain of Pakistan’s test cricket team that everyone is surprised to see. With captains like Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, making Shan Masood the captain of the Pakistan Test team surprised everyone. The constant change of captains also affects the rest of the team. Which affects their performance. And Pakistan’s Test cricket is getting worse.