Last night Pakistan completed their 10th consecutive series win in T20 Internationals.

This run includes wins against England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, a World XI team, and a tri-series involving Australia and Zimbabwe. The streak dates back to September 2016; since then, in over two years, Pakistan have lost only 4 T20  internationals.
I don't know of any team that has had such an outstanding run in T20s.

It is quite remarkable!

Here is a look at the team, the captain, the batsmen, and the bowlers who have made such dominance possible.

THE TEAM
No surprise that Pakistan is the number 1 ranked T20 team in the world, with quite a margin.

They have a whopping win loss ratio of 6.5 over the past 2 years!

I have never seen such a W:L ratio in any form of the game for a period this long. It is miles ahead of all other teams, barring Afghanistan (who largely play the associate nations), making the difference between Pakistan and rest of the teams quite significant.

Pakistan have not only dominated T20 cricket over the past two years; they have been dominating the game since its inception.



























Pakistan have the best W:L ratio in T20 Internationals since the format began (barring Afghanistan). Considering Pakistan have played more T20 Internationals than any other team, that fact is even more impressive.


THE CAPTAIN
September 2016 was when Pakistan played their first T20 International under Sarfraz Ahmed, and despite all the flak and criticism he has faced recently, he has been a star skipper in the shortest format of the game.

Pakistan's remarkable streak in T20 cricket coincides with Sarfraz Ahmed's T20 captaincy and it has made him the most successful T20 captain in the history of the format.

No other captain comes even close to Sarfraz's Win % and W:L ratio in T20Is.


THE BATTING
During this period, since September 2016, Babar Azam is the leading run scorer in all T20 Internationals.

In fact, Babar made his T20 debut during this period and he has been miles ahead of all other batsmen since then.

Shoaib Malik and Fakhar Zaman, who also made his T20 debut during this period, are both among the top 5 runs scorers in T20 Internationals since September 2016.

Babar and Malik, along with Glenn Maxwell, are the only batsmen in T20 Internationals who are averaging above 50 in this golden period of T20 cricket for Pakistan.

Babar Azam has had an amazing run in T20 Internationals. His past 5 scores are:

97*
51
68*
45
50

If it wasn't for that 45, he would have become the first batsman to have 5 consecutive scores of 50 or more in T20Is.

Babar is also on the verge of breaking Virat Kohli's record of reaching a 1,000 runs in 27 T20 innings.

Babar requires another 95 runs in 3 innings to break the record, an opportunity that he will have during the three T20Is against New Zealand over the next one week.

There is another Kohli record that can potentially be broken over the next week.

Fakhar Zaman requires another 101 runs to go past Kohli's record of 641 T20I runs in a calendar year, and he has another 3 innings left in 2018 to make this happen.

Coming back to Babar Azam; he is the only batsman in the world with a batting average of over 50 in T20 Internationals.

That is quite a feat by Babar considering the kind of batsmen he is ahead of.


THE BOWLING
Each match of this just concluded T20I series between Pakistan and Australia had a similar pattern. Pakistan got off to a flying start, stuttered in the middle order ending 20-30 runs short of what they should have got, and bowled and fielded exceptionally to keep Australia well away from the target.

Pakistan's bowling in the shortest format of the game has been outstanding.

Shahid Afridi, who hasn't played the format in two years, is still the leading wicket taker in all T20Is. While Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal, who haven't played T20Is for two and three years respectively, are among the top 4 wicket takers in the history of T20Is.

As for the current crop, during the period since September 2016, Pakistan have 3 bowlers among the top 10 wicket takers in T20 Internationals, with leg spinning allrounder Shadab Khan leading the way.

Pakistan's bowling attack is full of variety comprising left arm pacers, right arm pacers, leg spinners, off spinners, left arm spinners, and the works.

Undoubtedly that makes it quite tough for the opposition.

Pakistan have bowled out teams 30 times in T20Is, which is the most by any team in T20 Internationals.

Quite a record that!


PAKISTAN are no doubt the Kings of T20 cricket and their run over the past two years has been nothing short of phenomenal! They have got the top order, they have got the bowling, and now if they can only find some consistent middle and late order batting they can truly become an invincible T20 Force.

Mazher Arshad, Pakistan's Superstar Statistician, tweeted a damning stat about Pakistan cricket yesterday.


That really is quite damning, but it also got me thinking.

If you look at the Pakistan test XI that is currently playing against Australia in Abu Dhabi, 5 out of the top 7 have test centuries, and most of them have multiple centuries.

Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, and Sarfraz Ahmed all made their debut before 2010.

Out of the two who do not have a test hundred, both made their test debuts after 2010.

But one of them is Fakhar Zaman, who made his test debut 3 days ago and has had an incredible first test.

He was unfortunate to miss a debut test hundred in the first innings, but 160 runs across two innings in one's first test is remarkable in my view.

The other, Babar Azam, has been playing tests for two years now and in 14 tests he should have got a few test hundreds, but an unbeaten 90 and a 99 shows that he too has been unfortunate.

He surely has had a slow start to his test career, especially when compared to his limited overs performance, but I have no doubt that he will catch up.

So a Test XI with only two batsmen out of the top seven who do not have a test century made their test debuts after 2010.

That is not really damning.

Just shows that Pakistan have a stable batting line up with batsmen who have many years of first class cricket experience.

When you look at the bowling line up in the current test, you will see that 3 of them - Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, and Bilal Asif - have 5 wicket hauls.

In fact Abbas and Yasir have shown that they can win tests single handedly, and Bilal Asif just made his test debut and had one of the best bowling figures in an innings by a debutant.

All 3 of them made their first class debuts before 2010.

Actually, Bilal Asif made his first class debut in 2011, but I just realized that in his tweet, Mazher mentioned pacers and not spinners.

The fourth bowler in this test, Mir Hamza, is currently playing his debut test, so surely he can't be counted among this "damning" list.

Still not damning I say.

It is a great thing that Pakistan's test cricketers have been around the first class cricket scene for a decade or more.

So who are these cricketers who made their first class debuts after 2010 and have not yet scored a test century or taken a 5-wicket haul for Pakistan?

Imam Ul Haq?

Well he made his test debut this year, has played 4 tests, and in his debut test he scored an unbeaten 74 to guide Pakistan to a successful chase of 160 against Ireland after they were precariously placed at 14-3.

A match winner no doubt.

He also had a good test against Australia in Dubai with a 76 and 48, and I have no doubt that he will be churning out test centuries very soon.

Shadab Khan? Faheem Ashraf?

They too made their test debuts this year and have already played some match winning and match saving knocks in test cricket.

That too in English conditions over the summer, where main Indian batsmen struggled to score.

Plus considering the positions that Shadab and Faheem bat in, they will not be scoring many test hundreds, but they will definitely continue to win and save tests for Pakistan.

If we dig a little further and look at all the test centurions for Pakistan since 2010 (besides the ones playing the current test), the names you see are the usual suspects Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq, along with Taufeeq Umar, Salman Butt, Shan Masood, Khurram Manzoor, Ahmed Shehzad, and Shoaib Malik.

All of them made their first class debuts before 2010.

If you think about it, Pakistan's test cricket batting since 2010 has really been about Misbah, Younis, Azhar, Asad, Hafeez, and Sarfraz.

Stable lot who have been around first class cricket since the early 2000s or earlier.

Besides the three names mentioned above, the only batsmen I can think of who made their first class debut after 2010, played test cricket for Pakistan, and have not scored a test hundred are:

Sami Aslam and Iftikhar Ahmed.

Iftikhar Ahmed played only one test. Not enough chances. So can't be judged.

Sami Aslam was around for 13 tests and given his domestic record he should have reached a test century. He did manage 7 fifties in his 13 tests and perhaps was not persisted with enough.

So the only two batsmen that Mazher's tweet is referring to out of the 620 first class debutants since 2010 are Babar Azam and Sami Aslam. I really don't think this stat is damning. Just misleading!

As for pacers, there is only Hasan Ali and Ehsan Adil besides the one mentioned above who made their first class debuts after 2010 and have played test cricket for Pakistan.

Hasan has played 4 tests and has been in and out of the team. There is still a question mark over whether he is test material or just a limited overs format champion.

Ehsan Adil played three tests and was a disappointment.

So again there is really just a couple of batsmen and bowlers who Mazher is judging.

620 players is a lot of cricketers, but hardly any of them have played test cricket. So if they haven't played how will they score a hundred or take a 5 wickets haul or win a man of the match award?

It does not mean Pakistan does not have world class cricketing talent.

It just means they have a stable test team, which not too long ago was number 1 in the test rankings. They have a young test team that drew a series in England this summer, a team that is on the verge of winning a test series against Australia.

Don't damn it with irrelevant and misleading stats like these please.

Why not talk about the great stuff that Pakistan's test cricketers have done since 2010!

Like Azhar Ali, who is one of the leading run scorers in test cricket since 2010.

And Asad Shafiq, who has scored more test centuries at number 6, not only since 2010, but since the time test cricket started! He is also has the world's leading run scorer at number 6 in test cricket since 2010. Well ahead of Ben Stokes who is mentioned in the tweet.

What about Yasir Shah, who is the world's leading wicket taker among leg spinners in tests since 2010, the world's 6th highest wicket taker among all spinners in tests since 2010, and the world's 16th highest wicket taker in tests since 2010.

Have you forgotten Mohammad Abbas? Forget since 2010, he has the best test bowling average in over a 100 years for all test bowlers with at least 50 wickets!

Pakistan's current test captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, is the 5th highest run scorer among wicketkeepers since 2010 - behind only the England duo, Prior and Bairstow, Dhoni, and Rahim.

Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq have been retired for over a year now, but even then YK's 18 test centuries since 2010 are bettered by only Kohli, Cook, Amla, Warner, and Smith; while only Cook and Kohli have scored more test runs than Misbah as captain since 2010.

There is so much success that Pakistan have had in tests since 2010 and we should really focus on highlighting that rather than meaningless stats like 620 first class cricketers since 2010 who haven't done this or that - ofcourse they haven't because they haven't even played test cricket!

Following several successful domestic seasons, Fakhar Zaman finally made it to Pakistan's ODI squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.

The little I had seen of him, I was quite excited to see this potentially explosive batsman open for Pakistan.

However, Pakistan's squad already had Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, and Ahmed Shehzad as openers, which made most people wonder what was the need for another opener.

I remember at the time a number of people said "Fakhar is a mere slogger, nai chalega".

Not many believed he was international standard. But I really wanted to see him open for Pakistan.

The Pakistan team management probably did not have much faith either as they went with Azhar and Shehzad as the openers for their first Champions Trophy game against India.

An embarrassing loss against India and loss of patience with Shehzad resulted in Fakhar finally getting the nod for Pakistan's next match against South Africa.

I could not wait to see this left hander in greens.

Fakhar impressed everyone with a 22 ball attacking 31, which was laced with 6 hits to the fence.

Fakhar looked every bit the international batsman, but even then there were questions.

"He just lasted 20 odd deliveries"

"He's just a T20 batsman, shouldn't play ODIs"

All sorts of judgments were passed.

But Fakhar would have none of it as he marched on and improved with every outing in the Champions Trophy.

His next three innings were 50, 57, and 114, with the last one coming in the Final against India.


Fakhar Zaman had arrived!

He continued to dominate the bowling in ODIs and T20Is.

He scored against all sides and in all conditions.

He was so good in limited overs that even Babar Azam was over shadowed.

With an average of 59 and a strike rate of 99 in ODIs, coupled with an average of 31 and a strike rate of 143 in T20Is, there is no longer any doubt in anyone's mind that Fakhar is every bit an international opener and a world class batsman.

His success in the shorter format earned him a call to the Test squad for the one-off test against Ireland and the two tests against England this summer.

I thought that was a great idea and just what Pakistan needed - someone who could take the attack to the opposition early on.

Since Saeed Anwar, Pakistan really hasn't had a dominating opening batsman in tests.

Fakhar was a great prospect and once again I was excited to see him don the whites for Pakistan.

But throughout the UK tour, the team management preferred to open with Azhar Ali and Imam Ul Haq. Fakhar did not get a chance to display his talent in whites.

I had thought that it would have been ideal to open with Fakhar with Imam with Azhar at 3, but the Pakistan team management opted to play 5 batsmen, with Sarfraz at 6, followed by a couple of allrounders.

That combination worked no doubt, but I feel Pakistan missed a great opportunity to test Fakhar.

Especially in the tour games and the test against Ireland. That would have been an ideal start to Fakhar's test career.

It didn't bog Fakhar down however as he continued to destroy bowling attacks in ODIs and in the process became the first batsman from Pakistan to score an ODI double hundred.


When Pakistan's test squad for Australia was announced, Fakhar was in there again, as the third opener alongside the first choice pair of Azhar Ali and Imam Ul Haq.

If Fakhar had any chance of making his test debut, it was all dispelled when Pakistan's selectors decided to include Mohammad Hafeez in the test squad at the last minute.

A fourth opener meant that Fakhar had moved even further down the pekking order.

For the first test, the team management moved Azhar Ali back to number 3 with Hafeez and Imam opening.

Hafeez, coming back to the side after two years, celebrated his comeback with a hundred.

Imam continued to show why he will be opening for Pakistan for the next decade and a half.

Both were also involved in a 200 run opening partnership, which meant that Fakhar will have to wait a while.

I wondered whether Fakhar will ever play test cricket.

Some even thought it was best he doesn't because his game is only suited to white ball cricket.

I always thought otherwise. Look at the impact the likes of Virender Sehwag, Matthew Hayden, and Chris Gayle have had while opening in tests. They all have triple centuries against their names.

Then Imam injured his hand and was ruled out of the second test.

This was Fakhar's chance I thought. He will finally make his debut.

A few days away from the second test against Australia, I started hearing that Sarfraz and Arthur will move Azhar back to open the innings and slot Usman Salahuddin in the middle order.

Meaning Fakhar will not get his chance in whites yet again.

On the eve of the second test however, Sarfraz Ahmed confirmed that Fakhar will play.

That was it. I couldn't wait for the debut.

All of Pakistan was excited to see Fakhar make his debut, see Fakhar take Australia's bowling apart.

While some skeptics continued to say that it was a mistake and Usman Salahuddin was once again hard done by.

Maybe Usman was, actually I think he was, because he truly deserves to play test cricket for Pakistan, but the prospect of Fakhar Zaman opening in test cricket is too good to ignore.

Pakistan won the toss and out walked Fakhar Zaman in whites making his test debut.

While I had thought that he will play his natural attacking game, Fakhar not only surprised me, but also silenced all those skeptics who had wondered whether he was good enough for test cricket or not.

Fakhar was sedate and cautious.

Maybe it was the nerves of a test debut, or maybe it was the fact that he saw three batsmen fall for ducks while he looked on from the non-striker's end.

Fakhar was out there when Pakistan collapsed from 57-1 to 57-5 in the span of 10 deliveries.

While an experienced campaigner might have been used to this, for a debutant that would have been nerve wrecking.

Not for Fakhar though.

He continued to bat cautiously and started to rebuild Pakistan's innings together with Sarfraz Ahmed.

A batsman who was used to batting at a strike rate of over a 100, was batting at a strike rate in the 40s.

It wasn't the same Fakhar I, or anyone else, was used to.

He was really unfortunate to miss a debut century, but Fakhar's 94 scored of 198 deliveries at a strike rate of 47 was a test innings par excellence.

It was one of the best debut innings played by a Pakistani batsman under pressure.

Forget the skeptics, even I did not think that Fakhar could curb his natural instinct and play sedately.


It was an outstanding debut innings.

Fakhar wasn't done yet.

He walked out for the second innings, with a lot less pressure as Pakistan was already leading by 137 runs, and he took the attack to Australia's bowling.

He raced to a run a ball fifty becoming the first opener from Pakistan to score a 50 in each innings of his debut test.

His second knock ended on 66, scored at a strike rate of 80.

This one was more a Fakhar innings, but more importantly what Fakhar showed in his debut test was that he can bat according to the situation.

If caution was required he can easily rein himself in and play like he did in the first innings. If aggression was required he can easily smash the bowling around like he did in the second innings.

It was the perfect debut for Fakhar Zaman and I can't wait to see more!

This morning, with Australia at 91-7, a friend on Whatsapp commented that this has got to be the mother of all comebacks after Pakistan were 57-5 on the first morning of the test.

That discussion led to more examples of Pakistan coming from behind to win a test.

Here are five of Pakistan's great test wins that came after they had their backs against the wall.

PAKISTAN VS NEW ZEALAND
ONLY TEST
HAMILTON 1993
On a green top, a typical surface in New Zealand, Pakistan were put in by the Kiwis and in no time were reduced to 12-3. A customary captain's innings of 92 from Javed Miandad saved Pakistan from complete disaster as they managed a somewhat respectable 216 in the first innings.

Mark Greatbatch played a magnificent knock of 133, but Wasim, Waqar, and Mushtaq ensured that New Zealand do not bat Pakistan out of the game. The rest of the Kiwi batsmen could not do much and New Zealand took a modest 48 run lead.

Pakistan's woes against seam and swing continued in the second innings as they were bundled out for 174 with the only saving grace being Inzamam's 75.

Set a target of 127, it should have been a walk in the park for New Zealand.

But Pakistan's deadly Ws duo had other things in mind.


Wasim Akram bowled unchanged for 22 overs and dismissed half the New Zealand side, with Waqar Younis running through the other half, leaving the Kiwis in tatters.

The greatest pacers to play for Pakistan destroyed New Zealand giving Pakistan an unlikely 33 run win.

PAKISTAN VS INDIA
FIRST TEST, ASIAN TEST CHAMPIONSHIP
KOLKATA 1999
Having just drawn the test series 1-1 with India, Pakistan took on India again in Kolkata in the first match of the Asian Test Championship.

After winning the toss and batting first, within 45 minutes of the game, Srinath and Prasad had Pakistan reeling at 26-6.

The entire batting line up, barring Saleem Malik (32), had succumbed to the seam and swing of India's opening bowlers. Moin Khan played a valuable knock of 70 and with support from Malik and Wasim Akram (38), managed to give Pakistan a total of 185.

India could not capitalize on this as they also folded for 223 in the first innings as Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar shared 7 wickets, including Shoaib's two scalps of successive yorkers to Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.


Pakistan's second innings was a one man masterclass from Saeed Anwar as he carried his bat with a magnificent career best 188 off 259 deliveries, which was laced with 23 boundaries and a six. He found some support from Mohammad Yousuf (56) with the rest of the Pakistan batting not doing much.

Javagal Srinath, Pakistan's first innings tormentor, took 8 wickets in the second innings, giving him career best match figures of 13-132.

Thanks to Saeed Anwar, Pakistan managed to post 316, giving India a target of 279 to win. In response, India managed only 232, and Pakistan won by 46 runs.

No one expected Pakistan to win after they were 26-6 inside 9 overs on the first morning of the test.

PAKISTAN VS INDIA
THIRD TEST
KARACHI 2006
This test match started in similar fashion to the one in Kolkata. After winning the toss, Indian put Pakistan into bat on a breezy Karachi morning on a damp wicket.

At the end of the first over, Pakistan were 0-3 having lost Salman Butt, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf to an Irfan Pathan hatrick!

By the 10th over, Pakistan were reeling at 39-6.

Kamran Akmal then played the innings of his life as he smashed 18 boundaries in a classy 113 where he shared a 115 run 7th wicket partnership with Abdul Razzak (45) and a 82 run 8th wicket partnership with Shoaib Akhtar (45) to take Pakistan to a respectable 245.


Pakistan wrested the initiative away from India once again as Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, and Abdul Razzaq combined to bowl India out for 238.

In the 2nd innings, Pakistan just smashed their way to 599-7 declared. Faisal Iqbal hit 139 and every other batsman that batted got 50+, including a couple of 90s from Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq.

India managed only 265 in their improbable chase of 607, giving Pakistan their largest win ever by 341 runs (which was later broken in 2014 when Pakistan beat Australia by 356 runs).

Who would have thought that Pakistan will manage a record breaking win after they were 0-3 on the first morning!

PAKISTAN VS ENGLAND
SECOND TEST
ABU DHABI 2012
This was the second test of the series against England and Pakistan were behind in the entire game except for the final 30 overs of the match.

On day 1, Pakistan collapsed from 203-4 to 257 all out as Broad, Anderson, and Panesar proved too much for Pakistan's lower order. In response England posted 327 taking a 70 run first innings lead.

In the second innings, Pakistan again could not handle Monty Panesar as he picked up 6 wickets to bowl Pakistan out for 214.

Needing only 145 runs to win, England began their chase cautiously putting on 20 runs in 14 overs. They lost Alastair Cook to Hafeez off the final delivery of the 15th over to make it 21-1.

Then the carnage began.

From there it went to 26-2, 37-4, 68-7, and then 72 ALL OUT !

Abdur Rehman's 6-25 and Saeed Ajmal's 3-22 gave Pakistan one of their most improbable wins ever.


No one gave Pakistan a chance to defend 145, but they did and how. It was a great escape and a wonderful win! 

PAKISTAN VS ENGLAND
THIRD TEST
DUBAI 2012
After winning the series following the great escape in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan should have been confident going into bat after winning the toss in the third test against England.

However, within 45 minutes of the morning, Pakistan found themselves at 21-5, with Broad and Anderson ripping through the batting. Panesar further added to their woes and Pakistan were bowled out for 99.

England should have run away with the match but their Abu Dhabi tormentors, Rehman (5-40) and Ajmal (3-59), combined again to restrict England's lead to only 42 runs.

In the second innings, Azhar Ali (157) and Younis Khan (127) combined in a 200 run partnership to give Pakistan a 300 plus run lead.


Pakistan set England a target of 324, which at the end proved too much for them.

No one thought Pakistan will end up winning the test by 71 runs after they were bowled out for 99 in the first innings.

The second test between Pakistan and Australia got underway yesterday in Abu Dhabi.

Soon after the start, two bad shots and two unbelievably freaky catches later, Pakistan found themselves at 57-5.

From 57-1 to:

57-2
57-3
57-4
57-5

!!

Who would have thought that Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, and Babar Azam will all walk back to the pavilion for a duck.

It took a 147 run 6th wicket partnership between a debutant and the captain to steer Pakistan out of complete disaster.

Fakhar was unfortunate to miss out on a debut test ton, but he batted with grit and determination in his first test. His innings of 94 was unnatural, at a strike rate of 47, and showed Pakistan and the rest of the world that he can adapt his game to play at the highest level.


Pakistan will now have an interesting problem at hand when Imam is fit again.

Sarfraz Ahmed finally produced a captain's knock when it was required. Sarfraz hasn't batted the way he did yesterday in over 3 years.

He batted as if it was 2014 all over again. Without giving a damn.

He attacked, he found the gaps, he ran, and he scored 94 without even breaking a sweat.

It was a splendid captain's knock and a much needed one, not only to steady Pakistan's first innings, but also to boost his own confidence and ensure some continuity in Pakistan's top job.

The Fakhar-Sarfraz partnership and some late blows from Yasir Shah took Pakistan to 282. It is not a total Pakistan would have wanted after winning the toss, but it is good enough runs on the board following what happened in the morning session.

Pakistan ended the day on a high note with their newest superstar, Mohammad Abbas, picking up 2 Australian wickets including the key wickets of the first test's hero - Usman Khawaja.

Mohammad Abbas did not quite get to 50 test wickets in his 9th test match, which means that he will only equal, and not beat, the record created by Waqar Younis, Mohammad Asif, and Shabbir Ahmed - 50 test wickets in 10 matches, which is the quickest for Pakistani pacers.

Despite not achieving the record, Abbas has remarkable figures in a short test career.

He has 49 wickets in 9 tests at an average under 17, which is something no pacer has achieved in the last 100 years of test cricket.


In fact, Abbas is the only bowler, with at least 45 test wickets, to average under 17, since Sydney Barnes, who hung up his boots in 1914!

So what Abbas has achieved till now is something done by only 2 bowlers since the start of the 20th Century!

Remarkable is a gross understatement.

I reckon he would have got his 50th test wicket in the first test against Australia had Sarfraz gone to him immediately on the 5th morning. Instead, Abbas did not get the ball till after the 15th over of day 5.

Such a bad decision.

Anyhow, back to Abbas, and it is not only his average that is outstanding, but even his strike rate.


His strike rate of 42.1, just a bit more than 7 overs is bettered by only Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, and Shane Bond from the modern era.

Right now he is striking faster than Waqar Younis did for Pakistan, which will be quite some feat if he manages to continue with the same vigor.

The result of the first test between Pakistan and Australia might have been different had Abbas been given the ball at the start of day 5, but what is done is done and now it is time to look ahead to the second test.

Abbas will be key for Pakistan if they are to win this test series and Sarfraz must use him better than he did in the first test.

Mohammad Abbas has quickly risen to the status of Pakistan's premier pace bowler in tests.

While it was Bilal Asif who ripped through Australia in the first innings of this test, Abbas played a crucial role as well ensuring a strong lead for Pakistan.

Abbas then follow up his first innings 4-29 with another special spell in the second innings where he picked up 3 wickets in the space of 7 deliveries for no runs that left Australia reeling at 87-3.

Abbas is special and he is one wicket away from his 50th test wicket in only his 9th test.


Another wicket today and he will join Yasir Shah as the quickest to 50 wickets among Pakistan bowlers. Better than that, he will become the quickest among pacers from Pakistan, breaking the 10-test record set by Waqar Younis, Mohammad Asif, and Shabbir Ahmed.

Abbas spoke to the media yesterday and you can watch his press conference on our Facebook page. Here is a transcript of what he spoke about:

I don't know a single person who was not surprised by seeing Bilal Asif's name in the Pakistan squad for the test series against Australia. Everyone wondered why he was the only off spinner in the squad and asked where were all the other off spinners.

I was quite sure that Bilal Asif will not play a single game and that thought became even more certain when Pakistan called up Mohammad Hafeez to join the squad.

But then, Shadab did not recover from his injury and on the eve of the first test against Australia, Sarfraz announced that Bilal Asif will play.

I read someone's social media post that said that this was Pakistan's weakest bowling attack ever. Even I was skeptical about the support for Abbas and Yasir, so I did not even bother to refute that statement.

And then on day 3 of the first test, Bilal Asif surprised not only Australia but all of Pakistan too!

Bilal Asif's magic made the Aussies fold like a pack of cards as they lost 10 wickets, 6 of them to Asif, for 60 runs in 30 odd overs resulting in one of the worst ever collapses in Australia's test history.

Asif's 6-36 is the third best bowling figures in an innings by a Pakistani debutant and the second best by a Pakistani debutant off spinner.

Look at that average, economy, and strike rate. Never has a Pakistani debutant dominated the way Bilal Asif did.

Pakistanis love to create the unexpected, don't they? I don't know any other team that dismisses the fans' expectations, both good and bad, like Pakistan does!

Asif's figures are not only one of the best ever for a Pakistani debutant, but they are one of the best among all off spinners on debut.

Fourth best to be exact, but again no debutant has done it as economically or as destructively as Asif did against Australia.

And that holds true among all bowlers that have made their test debut against Australia.

No one has produced as a good a spell as Asif's 6-36 on debut against Australia.

It is not surprising that no one considered Asif to be test material before the series started. He doesn't have a first class record that showcases abundant talent, nor does he have domestic performance that have startled, yet the Pakistan selectors and the team management saw something in him.

That something paid off yesterday.

Fortunately, Shadab Khan was not fit for this test, because if he was then I doubt Asif would have ever gotten a chance. And the way Pakistan's other leg spinner went in the first innings, wicketless, Pakistan may not have been in the position they are in now had Asif not been in the XI.

So thank you Inzamam, thank you Sarfraz and Mickey, and thank you Shadab for letting us witness the heroics of Bilal Asif.

Asif addressed the media at the end of day 3 and you can watch the video on our Facebook page. Here is a transcript of what he had to say:

On day 2 of the first test against Australia, Pakistan further solidified their position through a 150 run partnership between Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq.

In the process Haris Sohail posted his maiden test hundred, scoring 110 with 8 boundaries and two sixes.


Haris has been in and out of the Pakistan team across all formats since he made his debut. He has an impeccable first class record, where he is among very few Pakistani batsmen who average above 50, and now he has finally showcased that potential at the international stage.

Haris addressed the media at the end of day 2. You can view the video clip of his press conference on our facebook page.

Below is a translation of what he had to say:

Mohammad Hafeez, in his first test innings in two years, smashed a century ensuring that no one takes away the title of Comeback King from him.

Hafeez' 126 against Australia in the first test in Dubai was his 10th test century. He has now joined an elite club of Pakistan openers with 10 or more test centuries, whose only other member is Saeed Anwar!

Can you believe that? No test opener from Pakistan has scored more than Saeed Anwar's 11 test hundreds and Hafeez is only one century away from equaling that feat!

Considering that Australia, England, and India have each produced a couple of openers with more than 20 test hundreds. And at least 1 opener with 30 test hundreds, I was quite surprised.

But then, Pakistan hasn't really had that many stable openers. We are never patient enough with our openers and a couple of bad matches or 1 bad series and the selectors move on to the next one.

I wonder why that is.

In the middle order, batsmen seem more safe. They can go through more failures than openers can.

Case in point, Mohammad Hafeez, who was kept away from Pakistan's test side for two years despite scores of 224, 197, 151, 101*, 98, 96, 51, 42*, 42, 40 in his last 10 tests! He really only failed in one test in England (0 and 2) and he was dropped.

Doesn't seem right for a batsman who has arguably been Pakistan's second best opener in tests ever!


He has the third highest runs tally, the second highest number of test hundreds, and the third best average among all test openers produced by Pakistan.

Hafeez has been a world class opener for Pakistan, more so since November 2010 when he made his return to the Pakistan test team under Misbah.

Since that time, Hafeez is among the best openers in the world!


His average of 42.2 in this period is behind only that of Alastair Cook's, David Warner's, and Dean Elgar's.

It really makes me wonder why he was dropped from the team.

What further strengthens Hafeez' case as the first choice test opener for Pakistan is the fact that he has been involved in 7 out of the 13 century opening stands and 11 out of 15 fifty opening stands for Pakistan since 2010.


Hafeez has easily been Pakistan's best test opener since 2010 and I really cannot understand what resulted in him being dropped.

Please save me all the bull crap about his runs coming on flat decks and his centuries against weaker opposition. Hafeez has test hundreds against all test countries that he has played against, barring South Africa, and the only country he hasn't played test cricket against India.

For each one of his 10 test hundreds, there was another opener in the team also, playing the same opposition in the same conditions as Hafeez.

Mohammad Hafeez' comeback was so strong that he put on 205 runs for the opening wicket with Imam-Ul-Haq, which was Pakistan's 5th opening wicket stand of 200 runs or more, and the 6th highest test partnership ever against Australia.

I wonder how long Hafeez will last this time, but if he maintains the form that he displayed in Dubai yesterday, he will be on top of the list of Pakistan's test openers by the end of the Test series against New Zealand.