3 years, 8 months and 11 days—that’s how long the Pakistan cricket team had to wait to win a Test match at home. No one knew that when they beat South Africa by 95 runs on February 8, 2021, they wouldn’t be able to win at home for nearly 11 years. The doubts had grown even more after Bangladesh beat them 2-0 last month, and then England scored a mammoth 823 runs in reply to their 556 in the previous Multan Test.
How often does it happen that you win an away series before you win at home? Pakistan had beaten Sri Lanka in a 2-match Test series in July 2023, and yet they fell to three different oppositions on home soil in the last 22 months.
Dropping Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shan works wonders
But at last, they have won a Test match at home. That victory has come in the most unlikeliest way. Pakistan have won after dropping three of the best players (Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah). The players they brought in were Sajid Khan (last played in January), Noman Ali (38 and last played in July 2023) and Kamran Ghulam (first match for Pakistan).
And what do these three new players do? Kamran scored his maiden Test century in his first Test innings while Noman and Sajid claimed all 10 England wickets, with Sajid bagging a 7-wicket haul. In the second innings, Karman scored a brisk 26, and surprisingly, Noman and Sajid claimed all 10 wickets again. This time, Noman took an 8-wicket haul while Sajid got two scalps.
Monkey off Shan Masood’s back
Since Shan Masood took over as Pakistan’s Test captain, he’d lost all six matches he’d led in. For a change, he’s now on the winning side. This victory over England might have saved him from getting sacked. Might I remind you that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had dropped Babar, Naseem and Shaheen before the 2nd Test. If they can do that to their ‘Big 3’, they can easily ‘rest’ Masood as well.
Pakistan’s Test record at home since 2022
- Lost 0-1 to Australia (3 Tests)
- Lost 0-3 to England (3 Tests)
- Drew 0-0 against New Zealand (2 Tests)
- Lost 0-2 to Bangladesh (2 Tests)
- Series leveled at 1-1 against England (1 Test left)
| Matches Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
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