As this year 2019 comes to an end, this decade is also drawing to a close.

This year belonged to Babar Azam. He played that one match winning ODI innings that will define him as a batsman for many years to come; he came into his own as a Test batsman ending the year with 3 centuries in 4 tests; and he ended 2019 as the only batsman in the top 6 of ICC's Batsman Rankings across formats.


This decade, however, was about the many accolades that Pakistan won across formats; the many memorable moments the team gave us despite all the turmoil that surrounds them.

We started the decade with Pakistan as the World T20 Champions; we are ending it with Pakistan as the number one ranked T20 team in the world.


We started the decade with Pakistan an average ODI team; we are ending it the same way. However in the middle of the decade, Pakistan toppled over the best in the business and won the ICC Champions Trophy.

We started the decade with Pakistan mesmerized by a new teen pace sensation; we are ending the decade with Pakistan mesmerized by a new teen pace sensation.


We started the decade with Misbah taking over as captain of the test team; we are ending the decade with Misbah taking over as Head Coach and Chief Selector of Pakistan's cricket team.

We started the decade with a season in Pakistan that had no tests played in the country; we are ending the decade with the country hosting its first test series in 10 years.

Following Pakistan cricket is no less than a roller coaster ride. The bumps, twists, and turns are aplenty, but it is the highs amidst all the lows that we all live for as there is no other feeling in this world that compares with that of the highs.

Here is my list of 10 of the greatest moments in Pakistan cricket that we witnessed over this past decade ... in chronological order ...

July 2010, Leeds
Pakistan vs Australia
Pakistan registered its first test victory over Australia in 15 years in a match they had no business winning! 1-0 down, a captain retired, a new captain in place, a young and inexperienced team, and Pakistan managed a test win as the world witnessed the emergence of a new left arm teen fast bowler from Pakistan who could have been the next big star ...


January 2012, UAE
Pakistan vs England
Up against the number one test team in the world and what does Pakistan do? Push them aside, clean sweeping them 3-0 winning each of the three tests in remarkable fashion on the back of Saeed Ajmal's and Abdur Rehman's heroics.


March 2012, Dhaka
Pakistan vs Bangladesh
Bangladesh were on course to win their first ever Asia Cup but the unlikeliest of heroes for Pakistan, Aizaz Cheema, delivered a near perfect last over of the Asia Cup Final to take Pakistan home by a margin of 2 runs!


November 2013, Port Elizabeth
Pakistan vs South Africa
Chasing 260 odd, South Africa required 20 off 18 deliveries with 6 wickets in hand. Hashim Amla, batting in the 90s, and JP Duminy were at the crease. Pakistan's magic was in the works as South Africa failed to chase handing Pakistan a 1 run win, which made them the first Asian side to win an ODI series in South Africa.


March 2014, Dhaka
Pakistan vs India
A close Pakistan vs India game is a thing of the past century and pretty much a myth for anyone born in the new millennium. But this game was closer than any in the past and it ended with not one but two sixes of the bat of Shahid Afridi when Pakistan required 10 runs to win off 5 deliveries with only their last wicket standing.


October 2014, UAE
Pakistan vs Australia
Pakistan's first test series win against Australia in 20 years! And it was quite an epic win with Australia outplayed in all departments in both the tests to give Pakistan a 2-0 series victory. I will always remember the series for Misbah Ul Haq's fastest test ton equaling Sir Viv Richard's 30-year old record (it has since been broken by Brendon McCullum).



July 2016, Lord's
Pakistan vs England
Another Misbah century, another test victory, but this one was special because of the push ups! What a celebration it was as the team paid tribute to the army jawaans who had helped train the boys in green for the tour.


May 2017, Dominica
Pakistan vs West Indies
Pakistan had never won a test series in the West Indies. This series was tied 1-1 and the third and final test was in its last few minutes with the West Indies having fought it out till the end! It was also the last test of Misbah's and Younis Khan's careers. The way it ended was simply fantastic with Yasir Shah picking up the final wicket of his final delivery of the match.


June 2017, The Oval
Pakistan vs India
After getting hammered by India in their opening game of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan were down and out. However remarkable wins over South Africa and Sri Lanka, followed by an unlikely win over England in the semi final, resulted in Pakistan reaching the final. Up against India, whom they had barely beaten in recent times, Pakistan had a herculean task in front of them. But they lived beyond everyone's expectations on the back of Fakhar Zaman's hundred and Mohammed Aamir's wickets of India's top three.


June 2019, Edgbaston
Pakistan vs New Zealand
This was just epic. Not because Pakistan won and gave themselves an outside chance of qualifying for the semi finals of the ICC World Cup 2019. Not because Babar Azam scored a career defining and match winning hundred. Not because Aamir started proceedings by clean bowling Guptill. This was epic because of the Birmingham crowd, a 25,000 strong Pakistani crowd. This was by far the best crowd experience I have ever had at any sort of event. There is truly no sight better than an in-sync passionate and energized group of Pakistanis cheering on the boys in green.


By winning the Champions Trophy and the Test Mace in this past decade, Pakistan achieved a rare of feat of winning every single ICC trophy (U19, WC, WT20, CT) and the Test Mace. Nothing short of EPIC!


You can reminisce about this past decade with all these magical moments and think that it was fabulous, or you can think of all the disastrous ones and feel that it was a terrible decade.

That is Pakistan cricket for you, best defined by Nasser Hussain's quote of the decade "Pakistan cricket at its best. One minute down. Next minute up."

Quite a start to the day for Pakistan cricket fans.

A first test victory under Azhar Ali, a 5 wicket haul for teen pace sensation Naseem Shah, and a test series win that saw the rise of Babar Azam in test cricket, the legendary test debut of Abid Ali, many shattered records, and a jump to number 3 in the World Test Championship!

Yes, number 3 ...

Here is a look at the feats of Naseem, Babar, and Abid in the just concluded Test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka

The Arrival of NASEEM SHAH
Everyone was excited to see a new teen pace sensation coming out of Pakistan when he was selected in the test squad to face Australia.

A video of his 8 over spell in a side match in Australia circulated on social media with enthusiasm not seen since Mohammed Aamer's breakthrough series in 2010.

On his test debut in the first test against Australia, he bowled with pace and snared the prized wicket of David Warner. But he was left out of the second test against Australia and everyone thought he was going to be mismanaged like so many others in Pakistan.

Then there was news of him joining the U19 team for the U19 World Cup. Moving backwards? Not surprising given Pakistan.

Sanity prevailed however and he was part of the test squad to face Sri Lanka.

Two wickets in the only innings of the first test and wicket-less in the first innings of the second test resulted in some saying he was over rated.

But like most Pakistanis, who like to surprise you when you are least expecting it, Naseem Shah showed the world why he was so highly rated by the Pakistan management.

A haul of 5-31 with the last 3 wickets coming in the space of 11 deliveries and Naseem Shah had arrived!

He finished the test in no time this morning and made fans reminisce the times when Wasim and Waqar used to mop up tails within minutes.

Naseem became only the second 16 year old in Test Cricket history to pick up a 5 wicket haul in an innings. He is also the second youngest ever to do so!


Creating records already!

The Rise of BABAR AZAM
For the past three years, he has dominated limited overs cricket and has shown that he is one of the best ODI and T20 batsmen in the world at the moment. While he averaged above 50 in both white ball formats during this time, his test average languished in the mid-30s.

The start of this season however, his fourth in test cricket, Babar made it a point to translate his ODI and T20 success to the Test format.

He started the season with a 104 against Australia at Brisbane and with the end of the Test series against Sri Lanka he has scored 3 test centuries in 4 tests. In the one test that he missed out on, he scored 97.

With scores of 1, 104, 97, 8, 102*, 60, and 100*, in 7 tests innings this season, Babar has cemented his position as Pakistan's premier test batsman.


In the two year period starting January 2018, Babar has the best test average in the world among all batsmen who have scored at least 1,000 test runs.

He has a better average than Smith, Kohli, Williamson, and Root during this time.


In all international cricket formats in 2019, Babar Azam is right up there with the very best in the business. He has the third highest runs tally, third best average, third most 100s, and third most 50s in all formats this year.

Babar is the number 1 ranked batsman in T20Is, number 3 in ODIs, and number 6 in Tests. He is the only batsman in the world who is among the top 6 in each format currently! (Kohli is number 1 in tests and ODIs and number 10 in T20s).

Babar's time is now and he is set to dominate all formats of the game for many years to come.

The Legendary Debut of ABID ALI
Abid Ali has been a heavy scorer in domestic cricket for the past many years, and he finally got an opportunity to represent Pakistan this year.

He began his international career with a bang scoring a century on ODI debut in the UAE against Australia earlier this year.

Abid followed that up with a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka becoming the first batsman in the 142-years of cricket history to score a 100 on ODI and Test Debut.

I say we hand him a T20 debut too asap!

Abid has also become the first Pakistan batsman to score a 100 in each of his first two Tests.


He has really been on a roll.

With scores of 109*, 38, and 174, Abid Ali has scored 321 runs in his first three test innings, which is the third highest number of runs scored by batsmen in their first three test innings (behind Tip Foster's 355 and Lawrence Rowe's 336).

It is not without reason that Abid Ali is referred to as "Legend" in the dressing room.

Records Broken by PAKISTAN BATSMEN
Abid Ali, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, and Babar Azam all scored centuries in the second innings of the second test against Sri Lanka. This was only the second instance of a team's top 4 batsmen scoring centuries in the same innings; and the first ever instance of it happening in the second innings.

Shan Masood, brought up his second test century, cementing his position as Pakistan's first choice opener in Tests. He put on a 278 run opening partnership with Abid Ali, which made its entry in multiple places in the record books.

It was the highest opening partnership in tests against Sri Lanka, breaking a 15 year old record set by the legendary duo of Hayden and Langer.


It was the second highest opening partnership in tests for Pakistan ever, missing the record by a mere 20 runs.


It was the third highest opening partnership in the third innings of a Test.


ICC World Test Championship
This series win by Pakistan has catapulted them to number 3 in the WTC table, and now they join India and Australia as the only teams with a series win in the WTC.


Pakistan rank ahead of Sri Lanka because of more series wins (SW). RPWR stands for Runs per Wicket Ratio (Runs scored per wicket lost minus run given per wicket taken). If teams are on equal points then the team with more series wins ranks higher; and if still equal then the team with a better RPWR ranks higher.

Now that Pakistan has opened its account in the WTC and new Tests stars have emerged at home, there is much to look forward to in 2020 and beyond.

May this be the start for these exciting players and may they reach greater heights in the years to come.

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