Pakistan Cricket Team

Captains: Shan Masood (Test), Mohamad Rizwan (ODI, T20I)
Coaches: Jason Gillespie (Test head coach), Azhar Mahmood (assistant coach), Simon Helmot (fielding coach)
First international match: 1952
Cricket board: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
ICC titles: 3

Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team History

Cricket in Pakistan was a colonial hand-me-down, and when India and Pakistan obtained independence in 1947, much of the sport’s infrastructure in Pakistan was inherited from what had been left there pre-independence. They won their second Test, against India in 1952, but it was a famous upset at The Oval in 1954 that imprinted Pakistan on cricket’s consciousness.

Pakistan’s players from that era, particularly their first captain, Abdul Hafeez Kardar, fast bowler Fazal Mahmood and batter Hanif Mohammad, remain some of their most famous cricketers. But it was in the 1980s, with the arrival of perhaps Pakistan’s finest Test team, that the country’s cricket truly went global. Their captain and perhaps greatest ever player, Imran Khan, led the team to the 1992 World Cup title in his farewell tournament.

The ’90s marked a thrilling yet controversial time. It was the age where Pakistan’s fast bowling was truly the gold standard, with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis among the finest exponents of pace and swing, while Shoaib Akhtar was the fastest bowler in the world. Pakistan would reach the 1999 World Cup final. But allegations of match-fixing dogged that side, culminating in six players, including Wasim and Waqar, censured for varying anti-corruption offences, while Salim Malik was banned for life. Ten years later, three further players would be banned for spot-fixing and serve prison time in England.

Pakistan’s results have swung from one extreme to the other. Two early World Cup exits in 2003 and 2007 were followed by winning the 2009 T20 World Cup, and, eight years later, beating arch-rivals India in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy. They became the top-ranked Test side in 2016, and while consistency remains elusive both at cricketing and board level, Pakistan remain one of the most exciting cricket teams to follow.