It has taken 15 years but it has been worth it!
The last time Pakistan beat Australia in a test match...
Mohammad Aamer was still in his nappies.
Umar Akmal and Umar Amin were only 5 years old.
Pakistan captain Salman Butt was 10 years old and probably starting his cricket career in model town, Lahore.
Pakistan were the ODI world champions and Australia the unofficial number 1 team in test cricket.
The Pakistan coaches Waqar Younis and Ijaz Ahmed were part of the victorious Pakistan team.
Pakistan was a safe place where countries toured and Pakistanis were allowed to travel where ever they wanted to.
I was still in high school and a crazy cricket fan.
Atleast one thing hasn't changed - I'm still as crazy about cricket as I was back then.
But the world is a different place than it was in 1995.
It has taken Pakistan 15 years to win another test match against Australia; they had lost 13 consecutive tests to them prior to this one at Leeds.
Mohammad Aamer was still in his nappies.
Umar Akmal and Umar Amin were only 5 years old.
Pakistan captain Salman Butt was 10 years old and probably starting his cricket career in model town, Lahore.
Pakistan were the ODI world champions and Australia the unofficial number 1 team in test cricket.
The Pakistan coaches Waqar Younis and Ijaz Ahmed were part of the victorious Pakistan team.
Pakistan was a safe place where countries toured and Pakistanis were allowed to travel where ever they wanted to.
I was still in high school and a crazy cricket fan.
Atleast one thing hasn't changed - I'm still as crazy about cricket as I was back then.
But the world is a different place than it was in 1995.
It has taken Pakistan 15 years to win another test match against Australia; they had lost 13 consecutive tests to them prior to this one at Leeds.
The drawn series also means that Pakistan have finally managed to level a test series against the mighty Aussies after losing their last 6 test series to them; the last 4 being 3-0 clean sweeps!
Wasim Akram was the last Pakistan captain to enjoy a win over Australia. Hence in effect Salman Butt has managed something that Aamer Sohail, Waqar Younis, Inzamam, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, and Shahid Afridi never did.
New comers Azhar Ali and Umar Amin have experienced something that none of their more illustrious predecessors had experienced.
Things like these spell the importance of this victory for the Pakistan team. Its a young team, a new captain, new and inexperienced players; This win will do wonders to their confidence.
A test win over Australia is never a small achievement; however for this Pakistan team it is more of an achievement than it is for any other side.
No one gave Pakistan a chance.
Every Tom, Dick, and Harry criticized the choice of captain and the exclusion of Yousuf and Younis.
But Salman Butt and Co. proved them all wrong!
It wasn't easy for them; Australia made it really really tough. The catches that North and Hussey took off Malik and Akmal were out of this world. Not many other teams would have done the same.
Yet Pakistan held on and scampered home at the end.
When I was growing up, I used to read stories about Fazal Mahmood and how his bowling took Pakistan to their first ever test wins against England and Australia.
The next generation will read similar stories about Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.
Its taken 15 years to topple the mighty Australians and its been truly worth it!
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Congrats Q! For me this trumped the T20 WC win.
Thanks NC...
For me it was as good as the T20 win and 1992!
As i commented on FB - the AAG package at their best is as potent it can get ! Man , envy your fast bowling talents , how TF do they keep cropping up year after year ? ! I think if u look back at the last 5 matches , it was actually closer than the nos suggest - for sure , your bowlers tested the Oz batsmen all the way , including at Lord's - it was more the batsmen consistently losing it for you - this time the brilliance made that factor redundant - congrats , enjoy the moment !