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.

In just over two weeks, Pakistan will take the field to take on the world's number 1 test team. The last time that happened, Pakistan finished off the series with a whitewash - a 3-0 victory over England.

One can't really expect the same against South Africa in South Africa, a country where Pakistan has never won a test series.

Moreover, the current South African test team is probably the best test team they have ever had in their history of test cricket.

Smith, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Du Plessis, Alviro Petersen represent the strongest test batting line up internationally. Five of them are among the Top 20 ranked batsmen in tests, while the one who is not is only 4 test matches old and already has 2 centuries and 2 fifties in his 6 test innings.

Steyn, Morkel, Philander represent the best pace attack in the world currently, and arguably one of the best ever test pace attacks to play the game.

Steyn and Philander are the Top 2 ranked bowlers in tests, while Morne Morkel is at number 8.

That's a team with every single player in great form. No surprises then that they are the world's number 1 test team.

To say that this tour to South Africa is going to be a big test for Pakistan is a gross understatement.

It will be tough. It might even be a disaster. Pakistan could be whitewashed. Watching New Zealand fold in front of the South Africans, there can't be much hope for Pakistan's batsmen.

But there should be some in my opinion.

In Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah Ul Haq, and Asad Shafiq, Pakistan have a very stable batting line up. Add the ever improving Nasir Jamshed and the emerging Haris Sohail to the mix and Pakistan have a good problem on their hands in deciding their top 6.

Pakistan's test record in the past 2.5 years, during which they have lost only 2 tests, is second to none. The rise of batsmen like Azhar, Hafeez, and Asad, coupled with the experience of Younis and Misbah, has been a key reason behind the team's success.

The biggest contributor to this success though is Saeed Ajmal, the world's best spinner across all formats. He has single handedly lead Pakistan's bowling attack over the past couple of years and destroyed all teams that have come in his way.

England's demolition last year was largely due to their inability to read Saeed Ajmal, and his partner in crime, Abdur Rehman.

While South African conditions may not offer much assistance to spinners, Ajmal and Rehman are the sort of bowlers who don't require much help from the pitches. Their variety and guile are enough to trouble the best of batsmen across all types of surfaces.

Moreover, Pakistan finally have a potent pace attack. Once again it feels like a proper Pakistan team with attacking fast bowlers who can trouble opposing batsmen. They are worth every penny that you pay for to watch them; a sure treat on the eyes. I've heard fans talking about wanting to sell iPhones to go watch them bowl.

In Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Umar Gul, and the untested Ehsan Adil, Pakistan has its most dangerous pace attack since the 2010 summer when Aamer and Asif were running through the Australian and English batting line ups.

Adil is only 19, but going by his U19 and domestic performance during the past year, he has the potential take wickets in heaps in South Africa.

Pakistan's batsmen might find it difficult facing Steyn, Morkel, and Philander in their back yard, but I can assure you that Smith & Company will not find it easy to cope with Junaid, Irfan, and Ajmal.

I truly believe that it will be a well fought series. Tough to think of a Pakistan series win, but I am quite sure that they will compete well and give South Africa a hard time.

Pakistan is currently ranked number 4 in tests. The last time they played against the world's number 3, number 2, and number 1 teams the results were 1-1, 3-0, and 0-0 respectively.

The last time Pakistan played South Africa in a test series was in 2010 in the UAE, right after the England summer when the spot fixing scandal had destroyed the team's morale.

It was Misbah's first test series in charge of the team and Pakistan managed to hold South Africa for a draw in both tests.

Remember what I posted just before the test series between Pakistan and England got underway?

This article was all about what the test series meant for Pakistan cricket, and how it was all about showing the doubters that we are not only good at beating lesser sides, but are one of the best test teams around.

It still hasn't sunk in that Pakistan have not only won the 2nd test, but also won the series; if that is how I am feeling then I can't even begin to imagine what all those critics and doubters would be going through right now.

This was Pakistan's 4th consecutive test win, and it was also their 7th test win in their last 9 test matches. If you extend this run further back to the start of 2011, then Pakistan's record reads: Played 12, won 8, drawn 3, Lost 1.

Those numbers give Pakistan the best test record amongst all test playing nations for matches played since January 2011.

Since the beginning of 2011 till date, Pakistan have won the most number of test matches, have the best win:loss ratio, and have the highest win percentage and the lowest loss percentage, amongst all test playing nations.

Soon, beating Pakistan in the UAE will be one of those frontiers that teams would want to achieve.

For England, that challenge comes around next week.

Tell me whose not already thinking of a whitewash!

After his match winning effort on day 1 of the tournament, Malik put in another allround effort with a score of 42 and bowling figures of 2-38 that led his team to a narrow win.

For a change his bowling is winning matches this time.

He was instrumental in initiating the collapse picking up Yasir Hameed (57) and Khurram Shehzad (32) in the same over that resulted in the Panthers sliding from 142-2 to 212 all out.

The Stallions' spinners, Malik, Rahman, and Mansoor, were at the fore again picking up 4 wickets between them while giving away only 98 runs in 28 overs between them.

The other night against the Leopards they had picked up 7-119 in 24.

Punjab Stallions 229 all out in 50 overs (Mansoor Amjad 44, Shoaib Malik 42, Samiullah Khan 3-39, Shakeel Rehman 3-23) beat NWFP Panthers 212 all out (Yasir Hameed 57, Rafatullah Mohmand 45, Shoaib Malik 2-38, Mohd. Talha 2-53) by 17 runs.