For as long as Inzamam Ul Haq remains PCB's Chief Selector, poor Imam Ul Haq will have to bear the brunt of judgement calls and nepotism remarks.

The Pakistan team and fans thought that New Zealand were going to provide a stronger fight than Australia, which was probably a first for the Kiwis to be considered more dangerous than their antipodean neighbors.

The first T20I showed just that as Pakistan scraped home with a 2 run win.

The next one, even though it seems like an easy win on paper, also went to the last over as Pakistan hit the winning runs with only 2 balls to spare.

With their 11th consecutive T20I series win under the belt, Pakistan could have become complacent and taken the third match lightly.

Not this Pakistan though.

They were ruthless and turned out at their best, posting their highest T20I total of this season beating New Zealand comprehensively by 47 runs.

No one could have predicted such a dominant season in T20 cricket for Pakistan. As some experts put it aptly - the most unpredictable team is the most consistent in the sport's most unpredictable format.

Fathom that.

Take a look at online cricket betting sites too, such as www.onlinecricketbettingsites.com, and you will realize that while Pakistan were termed favorites for the T20s against Australia and New Zealand, the odds were not too stacked up in their favor.

Here's a look at some of the record breaking feats of the team, its batsmen, and its bowlers.

THE TEAM

After their win last night, Pakistan became the first team to clean sweep New Zealand in a T20I series.

In the process, Pakistan became the only team to win 11 consecutive T20I series.

Pakistan have also become the only team, besides Afghanistan, to win 9 consecutive T20Is.

And with 17 T20I wins in 2018 they have won more T20Is in a year than any other team!

This has improved Pakistan's W:L ratio under Sarfraz Ahmed even further taking it to an unprecedented 7.25!


THE BATSMEN

Pakistan's batsmen continue to smash T20 records as well.

Babar Azam scored his 1000th T20I run on his way to 79 last night, becoming the quickest batsman to achieve that feat in 26 innings, breaking Virat Kohli's record of 27 innings.

That is something we will not hear too much of in our lifetime - breaking a Virat Kohli batting record.


Babar has been ever so consistent in T20Is, which is extremely impressive considering he is not a big hitter of the ball. He bats traditionally and plays the ball on the ground, yet is effective and scores at a fair pace without getting bogged down.

He rotates the strike and pierces the gaps in the field with utmost ease.

His consistency has enabled him to stretch his lead over other batsmen - he remains the only batsman in the world with a batting average in excess of 50 in T20 internationals.

Once again, ahead of the great Virat Kohli.


There is one Kohli record, however, that Babar was unable to break - 641 runs in a calendar year in T20 internationals.

Yet, Babar and Fakhar are right up there as the two leading run scorers in T20 Internationals in 2018.


Actually, Babar was never really in the running to break that record considering he missed 7 of Pakistan's T20 Internationals in 2018.

However, Fakhar Zaman had the record in sight.

But injury, which made him miss a T20I each against Australia and New Zealand, coupled with indifferent form, resulted in him falling short of the 641.

THE BOWLERS

On the bowling front, Shadab Khan has continued to raise his stock in T20 Internationals.

His 3 wickets last night took his tally to 28 wickets in 2018, the highest in the year, and the joint highest in a calendar year ever.


Shadab's 2018 wickets tally is equal to Bumrah's; however Shadab has managed it in fewer matches, at the same economy, and at a better average and strike rate.

Shadab is also the second highest wicket taker in T20 Internationals in the period starting from Sarfraz Ahmed's captaincy in the format.


Two other Pakistani bowlers feature in this list as well - Hasan Ali and Imad Wasim.

Hasan is among the few pacers in the list and has the most T20I wickets in this period among pacers.

The bowlers are firing, the batsmen are piling on the runs, the team is winning rolling on like a T20 juggernaut - happy times for Pakistan's T20 cricket!

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.

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!

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.

Pakistan's international limited overs teams have had a ball for past year and a half. The T20 international team is the number one ranked team, and while the ODI team is still in the middle of the table at number five, it has had a magnificent run since the Champions Trophy last year.

Since June 2017, Pakistan have the second best W:L ratios among the 10 ODI teams that will be participating in World Cup 2019.

Only England has a better record than Pakistan during this period; however Pakistan has lost the least number of ODIs in this time among these teams.

Pakistan's successful run during this period has been helped by the induction of some fresh blood with the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ahraf, and Shadab Khan making great strides as match winners.

Sarfraz's Captaincy

It is no surprise though that these match winners have been born under the leadership of Sarfraz Ahmed.

While his antics on the field may display nervousness and temper, Safraz has grown as a well respected leader within the Pakistan dressing room.

This recent success that Pakistan's ODI team has had has led Sarfraz Ahmed to the top of the heap among Pakistan's ODI captains.

His Win % of 70.8% is the best among all captains that Pakistan has had in ODIs.

While these are still early days in his captaincy period, Sarfraz is ranked along side some legendary captains in ODIs with only a few of them with higher Win %.

Fakhar's Batting

Fakhar Zaman is among the leading run scorers in ODIs since June 2017, which was when he made his international debut.

While the Indian top 3 and Johnny Bairstow have outscored Fakhar during this period, Fakhar has the second best average among these batsmen, behind only Virat Kohli and equal to Ross Taylor.

Fakhar is also among the only four batsmen with a strike rate above 100 during this period and he also has the highest ODI score of 210 during this period.

Hasan's Bowling

Among the bowlers, Hasan Ali has been the pick from Pakistan. Overall, Hasan is the 6th highest wicket taker in ODIs since June 2017; however among the fast bowlers, he is only behind India's Jasprit Bumrah.

More than his tally of wickets, it is Hasan's average, strike rate, and economy rate that stand out. He is miles ahead of all pace bowlers, and among all bowlers since June 2017, his metrics are bettered by only Afghanistan's wonderkid Rashid Khan.

Babar's Magic

One batsman who always deserves a mention when talking about Pakistan's recent rise in ODI cricket is Babar Azam, arguably the best ODI batsman to ever play for Pakistan.

While Fakhar has overshadowed Babar in the past year, it was Babar who had a dream run in the preceding years and he is still considered the cornerstone of Pakistan's batting line up.

His frequency of scoring centuries, his ability to build innings, his defense, his attack, they are all sublime.

Babar, in fact has scored more centuries at number 3 for Pakistan in ODIs in the history of Pakistan's ODI cricket.

He is also the 10th batsman from Pakistan to score more than 1,000 runs at number 3 in ODIs and at the rate that he is going, it won't be long before Babar becomes Pakistan's leading run scorer at number 3, and maybe overall too!

Pakistan have had a magical run for the past year, and if they can maintain this form for the next year then they will be one of the front runners for World Cup 2019!

I don't think there has ever been a more mismatched ODI series than the one between Pakistan and Zimbabwe that just concluded last night. Already ranked 11, Zimbabwe were further weakened by the absence of a few players resulting in them fielding a second string XI in the series. And hence the flurry of records broken and created by the Pakistanis.

Weak opposition or not, I am not going to take anything away from Pakistan's young ODI team, which has grown in character by the day since that fateful Champions Trophy win a year ago.

This ODI team is special. This team has reached, and I believe, will continue to reach, uncharted territory with respect to Pakistan's ODI cricket.

A SUPERSTAR TOP 3
Collectively they have not even played 100 ODIs and neither one has yet completed 50 ODIs, so it is too early to make judgments, however it is quite a feat for a nation not known to produce top quality batsmen that each one of its top 3 - Fakhar Zaman, Imam-Ul-Haq, and Babar Azam - is averaging over 50 in ODIs!

And these averages are not inflated by not outs!

The first ever batsman from Pakistan to average above 50 in ODIs emerged a year and a half ago. Now there are two more.

FAKHAR's RECORD SPREE
Fakhar Zaman is an absolute star!

He made his ODI debut just over a year ago in the Champions Trophy 2017, which he capped with a scintillating match winning century in the final against India.

He hasn't looked back since.

Most Runs in a 5-ODI Bilateral Series
He ended the ODI series against Zimbabwe with 515 runs, a new record for runs scored in a 5-match bilateral ODI series and the second highest run tally in any bilateral ODI series.

Most ODI Runs Between Dismissals
During the series, Fakhar was dismissed only twice, and in between those two dismissals he amassed 455 runs, which is a record for number of runs scored in ODIs between dismissals.

The previous record was also held by a Pakistan batsman, Mohammad Yousuf, who knocked 405 runs also against Zimbabwe. The third batsman to score 400 runs between 2 ODI dismissals is Lance Klusener who managed this during his dream run at the World Cup 1999.

Fastest to 1,000 ODI Runs
Fakhar's run spree led him to another record during the series when he reached 1,000 ODI runs and became the fastest batsman to achieve the feat in only his 18th innings. He broke the previous record of 21 innings, which was jointly held by Sir Viv Richards, Kevin Pietersen, Babar Azam, Jonathan Trott, and Quinton de Kock.

IMAM UL HAQ's STUNNING START
He was labelled a 'parchi' given his family ties to Pakistan's chief selector Inzamam Ul Haq, but how he has thrown that label away by outclassing even his paternal uncle's ODI career launch.

Inzamam made his ODI debut in late 1991 and very quickly stamped his authority in international cricket by scoring 2 centuries and 2 fifties in his first 10 ODIs.

Now 26 years later, his nephew Imam, has bettered that by scoring 4 centuries in his first 9 ODIs!

No one has scored this many this quick.

There is only one other batsman who has scored 3 centuries in his first 10 ODIs - Dennis Amiss.

Think about this - Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla, who have the best frequency of scoring 100s in ODIs, scored their 4th century in their 36th and 30th ODI respectively. While Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored more ODI centuries than anyone in the world, scored his 4th century in his 96th ODI!

Imam scored his 4th in his 9th ODI! He added three tons to his tally, which also includes a debut ODI ton, during the series against Zimbabwe.

I agree with most critics who feel that Imam's strike rate requires improvement and that he is not a modern day ODI batsman and may be better suited to test cricket. However, I also feel that 4 centuries in 9 ODIs cannot be ignored and that he is probably the best foil to Fakhar Zaman's aggression at the other end.

Give him time and I believe his strike rate will improve as his confidence grows as we witnessed in the 5th ODI against Zimbabwe.

FAKHAR & IMAM - THE PARTNERSHIP
Pakistan's newest opening pair not only created individual records, as mentioned above, but also created partnership records during the series against Zimbabwe.

Highest Ever Partnership in ODIs
Fakhar and Imam added 304 runs for the opening wicket in the 4th ODI, which was only the 4th instance of 300 runs being added for any wicket in ODIs.

It was the highest partnership by any Pakistani pair in ODIs breaking Inzamam Ul Haq and Aamer Sohail's 24 year old record partnership of 263 runs against New Zealand.

It was the highest ever partnership for the opening wicket in ODIs breaking Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga's record of 286 against England in 2006.

And it was the 4th highest ever partnership in ODIs.

Most Partnership Runs in an ODI Series
Fakhar and Imam added 704 runs during the series against Zimbabwe, which is a record for most partnership runs by a pair in a bilateral ODI series. They broke the record of 590 runs set by their own countrymen - Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed - against New Zealand in 2003-04.
When non-bilateral series, including World Cups and Multi Nation Tournaments, are considered then Fakhar and Imam's tally behind only Tillekaratne Dilshan's and Upul Tharanga's 800 partnership runs scored during World Cup 2011.

Best Opening Pair for Pakistan
It is way too early to consider Fakhar and Imam in the same league as Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail, the best opening combination Pakistan has ever had in ODIs.

However, they have had a dream run of late and they are well on course to writing their own history down. The similarities are uncanny and I have no doubts that this left handed duo will take Pakistan to great heights.

They already have the most century opening partnerships for Pakistan and you can feel it that there are more to come!

THE ROCK SOLID BABAR AZAM
The third part of this trinity is Babar Azam who till very recently was the best batsman in Pakistan's XI. Now Fakhar is strongly challenging him for that label.

Babar has been Pakistan's leading run scorer in ODIs for the past few years, and he showed again why he is one of the world's best with a perfectly timed century in the final ODI against Zimbabwe.

Highest Frequency of ODI Centuries
That was his 8th ODI hundred in his 44th ODI innings. Only Hashim Amla scored 8 ODI centuries quicker than this, and he managed them in 43 innings.

Among all batsmen with at least 5 ODI centuries, Babar Azam has the best frequency of scoring ODI hundreds in the world. His current rate of 5.5 is better than Kohli's and Amla's.

And among these batsmen with the highest frequencies, Babar has the second best ODI average, behind only Kohli.

He also has one of the best 50-100 conversion ratios - in fact he is the only one with a conversion ratio of over 1.

Fastest to 2,000 ODI Runs
Babar requires another 27 runs to reach 2,000 ODI runs. While he can't break Hashim Amla's record of 40 innings to reach the milestone, he can equal Pakistan's record, which is also the second fastest, held by Zaheer Abbas who got to 2,000 ODI runs in 45 innings.

THE PAKISTANI TRINITY
What is fascinating about this Pakistani trinity is that the records set by Fakhar for fastest to 1,000 runs and by Babar for fastest to 8 ODI centuries among Pakistan batsmen can really be broken by their third partner in crime - Imam Ul Haq!

He has 544 runs in 9 ODI innings. What is another 456 runs in 8 innings?

He has 4 ODI centuries in 9 innings. What is another 4 in another 33-34 innings?

Pakistan have found quite a combination here.

We all fondly talk about the 90s and the superstar team Pakistan had then. I feel this team is close. Its not there, but Pakistan have not had a better ODI team than this one in this century, and this team has totally shown the potential of being a champion one!

Pakistan's win in the Final of the T20 Tri-Series against Australia cemented their position as the World's number 1 side in T20 Internationals.

Fakhar Zaman finally got a match on tour and he wasted no time in showing what Pakistan had been missing.

Why he was left out of the two tour matches before the test against Ireland still remains a mystery.

With Zaman scoring a fluent 71 off 98 deliveries, Pakistan have an interesting problem at hand.

Imam is of course the in-form opener currently. Azhar Ali had woefully been out of form, however considering he is the senior most batsman in the squad, his place was never in danger. Add to that his 73 against Leicestershire and he is a sure starter against England at Lord's.

So where does Fakhar Zaman fit in?

He surely needs to play.


He is too good a batsman to be sitting on the bench and Pakistan can benefit plenty from his aggressive stroke play at the top of the order.

I will go with Fakhar and Imam opening the innings and Azhar moving down to number 3.

Asad, Babar, and Haris can follow giving a Pakistan a strong top 6.

They need to go in with 6 batsmen with Sarfraz at 7 and not the combination they went in with against Ireland.

Unfortunately Faheem may have to miss out, despite a great performance with the bat in his debut test against Ireland, as I do not see him as the third pacer. As a fourth seam option, like he was against Ireland, he is fine.

It is time for Fakhar Zaman to don the whites for Pakistan and it will be quite a moment if he is given this opportunity at the home of cricket this Thursday!

Imam Ul Haq, the heavily criticized selection for Pakistan's summer tour to Ireland and England, is in line for a test debut following scores of 61 and 59* against Kent and Northamptonshire respectively.

Pakistan take on Ireland, who will be playing their first ever Test Match, starting this Friday and Imam looks well positioned to open the batting for Pakistan following his impressive scores in the tour matches.

Azhar Ali has not been able to get past 15 in the three innings he has had on tour; however given his experience and track record it goes without saying that he will be walking out to open with Imam in the upcoming test.

Sami Aslam just got 1 innings and failed to put up a score to push his case and it seems he will lose his opening spot to Imam Ul Haq.

I was quite surprised that Fakhar Zaman was not given a go in either game as he would have been my ideal candidate to open in the upcoming test matches.

I would still give Fakhar a go with Imam at the top, with Azhar Ali moving back to the crucial number three position.

This will enable Pakistan to strengthen their middle order with Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, and Sarfraz Ahmed to follow.

I hope they do not go in with Sarfraz at 6, like that did against Northamptonshire, as that leaves the batting quite brittle in my opinion. And if they do not play all three of Fakhar, Imam, and Azhar at the top then they would need to bring in Saad Ali or Usman Salahuddin at number 6 and neither of them were given a hit in the tour matches.

It has been quite a strange tactic by Pakistan to keep these youngsters away from the practice games.

The bowling line up looks more sorted than Pakistan's batting. In fact, Pakistan are actually spoiled for choices.

Shadab Khan will easily fit into Yasir Shah's shoes as he displayed in the tour game with a match winning 10 wicket haul.

The pace options are aplenty with Mohammad Aamir, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Abbas, and Faheem Ashraf.

Mohammad Abbas seems like the front runner though as he was the only one, besides Rahat Ali, who was among the wickets in Pakistan's win against Northamptonshire.

Hasan Ali and Mohammad Aamir were not able to pick many wickets, which creates some confusion in the camp. If both Abbas and Rahat get a shot then only one of Hasan and Aamir will get to play, though I am sure Sarfraz would want both of them in the XI.

It will be interesting to see what XI Pakistan field this Friday. My first choice would be:

1. Fakhar Zaman 2. Imam Ul Haq 3. Azhar Ali 4. Asad Shafiq 5. Babar Azam 6. Haris Sohail 7. Sarfraz Ahmed 8. Shadab Khan 9. Hasan Ali 10. Mohammad Aamir 11. Mohammad Abbas

If you blinked during last week, you probably missed the 3-match T20 series between Pakistan and the West Indies that was played in Karachi.

Yes, Karachi finally hosted international cricket after 10 years, and it was a welcome return for international cricket to Pakistan.

The series ended up being a cake walk for Pakistan as the West Indies were missing most of their big players, resulting in a whopping 3-0 thrashing by Pakistan.

During the series, Pakistan registered two of their highest ever T20I scores of 205-3 and 203-5.

They also registered their biggest win in T20Is (by 143 runs), which is also the second biggest win by runs ever in all T20Is and the biggest in a game between two test playing nations.


Interesting to note that Pakistan feature in this table above on three different occasions with all three T20Is played against test playing nations!

No wonder they are the number 1 ranked team in T20Is. Pakistan truly deserve their number 1 ranking in T20Is given they have won more T20 internationals than any other team in the world and that they are one of the only two teams that have a T20 win percentage higher than 60%.


The man of the series in the just concluded Pakistan vs West Indies series was Babar Azam, Pakistan's brightest batting talent.

Babar notched up scores of 17, 97*, and 51, which propelled him to number 1 in ICC's rankings for batsmen in T20s.

Another well deserved ranking!

Babar currently possesses the highest average in T20Is among all batsmen, which is more than 2 runs higher than Virat Kohli's. Babar and Kohli are the only two batsmen who average above 50 in T20Is (among batsmen with at least 10 innings) and also the only two batsmen in the world who have an average above 50 in both ODIs and T20Is.


Shadab Khan, Pakistan's young leg spinner, also rose in the rankings to number 2 among bowlers in T20Is.

Shadab has an enviable record on T20Is with 24 wickets in 16 matches with an average of 15.4, which is the 4th best average ever in T20Is among all bowlers who have played a minimum of 15 T20 internationals.


Pakistan did well by blooding some new players during the series. Hussain Talat had an awesome run in the 3 T20Is and he looks like a future batting star already.

The left hander notched up 135 runs in the 3 games, which was the second highest tally in the series, behind only Babar Azam.

It was quite a promising debut for Hussain Talat in the first T20I of the series where he scored 41, took 3 catches, and also took a wicket with his 4th delivery in international cricket.

His 3 catches on debut was a T20I record and he also became only the third Pakistani, after Shahid Afridi and Shadab Khan, to pick up a man of the match award on T20 debut.

Pakistan are the number 1 T20 team in the world and they are the winners of the Champions Trophy making them one of the best, if not the best, limited overs team around these days.

Pakistan possess some fine young talent for limited overs. Besides Babar and Shadab, the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Ali, and Faheem Ashraf are stars in the making. With senior pros like captian Sarfraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, and Mohammad Aamer this is one dangerous team in the making.

Before signing off, here is one fact demonstrating Pakistan's dominance in T20Is, particularly under Sarfraz Ahmed.

Since Sarfraz took over as captain of Pakistan's T20 team in 2016, Pakistan have not lost a bilateral T20I series. This win over the West Indies was Pakistan's 7th consecutive series win in T20Is! And in 4 of those series, Pakistan did not lose a single T20I!

In the past 2 years under Sarfraz' captaincy, Pakistan have beaten England 1-0, West Indies thrice 3-0, 3-1, and 3-0, World XI 2-1, Sri Lanka 3-0, and New Zealand 2-1.

Great times ahead for this Pakistan team in Green!

1992. 2009. 2017.

Pakistan is the 4th team in the history of international cricket to win all three ICC tournaments and only the 3rd team to hold every single ICC trophy including the Test Mace.

That is an achievement.

In 2015, Pakistan were the 9th ranked ODI team and they had to beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka to move to qualify for this Champions Trophy. Now, Pakistan are on top of the world and they have got there by beating the best in the business.

That is remarkable.

Pakistan's win in this Champions Trophy is stuff dreams are made of. It is a fairy tale ending. It is a movie where in a make believe fantasy world the underdog does the unthinkable and you leave the theater saying "this only happens in movies".

Along their glorious victorious run, Pakistan created some records and left us with some amazing memories. Here's a look back at the magic the team and its players created yesterday in the final and over the past two weeks.

THE TEAM

Beat the Best
To be the Champions, one has to beat the best. Pakistan won this Champions Trophy by beating:

- World's number 1 ranked ODI team.
- Tournament Favorites.
- Defending Champions.

Highest Total in CT17
For a team that is not known for its aggressive batting or big hitting, a team that does not score 300 as often as it should, a team whose batsmen tend to play too cautiously, a team that is far behind global standards of modern day ODI cricket, put up the highest total of this Champions Trophy; and that too in the Final!


Highest Total in all Champions Trophies
Pakistan's 338-4 in the Final is the second highest total in a Champions Trophy match; it is the highest total against a test nation in Champions Trophy, and it is the highest total in a Champions Trophy Final.


Highest Total in Pakistan vs India ODIs
Pakistan's score was their second highest ever in ODIs against India and the highest score ever in a Pakistan vs India ODI played outside the Subcontinent and the UAE.


Largest Win in Champions Trophy
Pakistan's win the final by 180 runs is not only the largest win in a final of an ICC tournament, it is also the largest win against a test nation in all Champions Trophy matches ever.


Largest Win in Pakistan vs India ODIs
The win the final is also the largest win by runs in the history of ODIs between Pakistan and India.


This team achieved results that no one expected them to. The players did the same...

FAKHAR ZAMAN
The man of the moment, Fakhar Zaman has left everyone awestruck. In his debut ODI series, he improved with every match and showed his best in the final with a scintillating knock of 114. He provided Pakistan with the much needed impetus at the start of an innings in every match and showed the world that Pakistan can also play modern day ODI cricket.

Highest Strike Rate in CT17
Fakhar had such a remarkable tournament that he not only was the highest run scorer with the best average for Pakistan, he was 6th highest run scorer in the tournament, had the second highest strike rate in the tournament (Min: 100 Runs), and had the highest strike rate rate among all openers in the tournament.


Most Boundaries in CT17
He brings to Pakistan's team the much needed explosiveness at the top of the order, which is evident from the fact that he hit the second most number of boundaries in this Champions Trophy.


Highest Strike Rate in all Champions Trophies
Among all batsmen that have scored a minimum of 150 runs in Champions Trophy matches over the years, Fakhar has the second best strike rate. Among these batsmen, Fakhar has the third best average, behind Dhawan and Wallace.


Highest Score in a Champions Trophy Final
Fakhar Zaman's 114 in the final against India is the 6th century to be scored in a Champions Trophy final, the second highest score ever in a Champions Trophy final, and the highest score ever in a winning cause in a CT final.



HASSAN ALI
It was his first ever ICC tournament and he ended it with the Player of the Tournament Award and the Golden Ball Award for his 13 wickets. It has not even been a year since he made his debut for Pakistan and he has rapidly risen to become their primary spearhead. Besides the first match against India, Hasan took 3 wickets in each of the other matches and was instrumental in ensuring that Pakistan restrict South Africa, Sri Lanka, and England to chase-able totals. He continued his form in the final and played a part in India's destruction as well.

Highest Wicket Taker in CT17
Hasan's 13 wickets were the highest in this Champions Trophy. He was well ahead of the rest of the bowlers in terms of average and economy, and only behind Josh Hazlewood in terms of strike rate.


Best Average & Strike Rate in all Champions Trophies
Among all bowlers with at least 10 wickets in Champions Trophy matches, Hasan has the second best average, third best strike rate, and third best economy.


Most Wickets in a Champions Trophy
Hasan's 13 wicket haul in this Champions Trophy is the highest any bowler has taken in a single Champions Trophy. He sits equal with Jerome Taylor on this record, however at a much better average, strike rate, and economy.



AZHAR ALI
Many, including me, criticized his inclusion in the ODI team. Despite his sluggish strike rate, he formed a potent opening partnership with Fakhar and gave Pakistan two successive century opening stands in the semifinal and final.

The 118 run stand in the semifinal was Pakistan's first century opening partnership in over two years. The last time Pakistan's openers put on two successive opening partnerships was 14 years ago; in 2003 when Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed unleashed against New Zealand.


Azhar was Pakistan's second highest run scorer (and 8th overall) in this Champions Trophy. His 3 fifties in the Champions Trophy were the most by any batsman (equal with Virat Kohli).

The primary concern with Azhar opening the batting is his strike rate. He is not a naturally aggressive batsman and struggles to rotate the strike. However, he improved with every match and also took on the role of an aggressor in both matches against India when his partner was struggling.

I will be the first to admit that I am a convert and I believe Azhar has a role to play in this ODI side, especially if the aggressors around him can play theirs.

MOHAMMAD HAFEEZ
He is another player who has been heavily criticized by one and all, including me. What is his role? Is he a batsman who bowls or a bowler who can bat? Where does he fit in the batting line up? There are so many questions about his role in the team that even the team management can't probably answer.

Hafeez's ability to rotate strike is nonexistent. Against India, he scored 33 off 43. Against South Africa, he was worse - 26 off 53. Against Sri Lanka, he couldn't even get going as he went for 1 off 5 deliveries.

In the semifinal against England, he walked in to bat with only 39 left for victory. Hafeez got 31 of them in only 21 deliveries. His innings included 3 fours and 2 sixes. It was like an innings that a younger Hafeez would have played while opening.

In the final, he continued where he left off against England. His unbeaten 57 off 37 deliveries took Pakistan well beyond the 300 run mark. He batted with aggression and his stroke play was immaculate.

Hafeez's strike rates in those two innings against England and India are the 4th and 5th best strike rates for an innings by a Pakistani batsmen in Champions Trophy. His 50 in the final was the second fastest 50 by a Pakistani batsmen in Champions Trophy.


Against India, he walked in to bat with 10 overs left in the innings. After all these years, we might have just discovered the best position for him to bat on.

MOHAMMAD AAMER
He has now been back in Pakistan colors for 18 months but he is not the same Aamer who left the scene in 2010. Since his return, Aamer has struggled with his swing, and wickets have been rare largely because of Pakistan's inept catching. He has been bowling well for quite some time, what was missing was the wicket taking ability.

Against India, in the Champions Trophy Final, he produced a magical spell, his best since his comeback, and had the tournament's top three run scorers back in the pavilion inside the first 9 overs. It was pure magic out there.

Not many bowlers can claim to have had the better of Virat Kohli. No bowler can claim that they got Kohli twice in two deliveries. But Aamer did just that. It was two perfect deliveries to the world's best batsman; the first one was edged and dropped at first slip; the second one had him caught at point.

Aamer's figures of 3-16 in the final are the second best bowling figures ever in Champions Trophy Finals. His average and economy being the best among these efforts.



JUNAID KHAN
Even though he was not Pakistan's first choice at the start of the tournament, he performed exceptionally well to end as the third highest wicket taker in this Champions Trophy. He forged a threatening new ball partnership with Aamer, and the duo combined at the death with some perfectly executed yorkers.

Junaid has a stellar record in ODIs, and despite falling behind due to injury and loss of form over the past couple of seasons, his partnership with Aamer forms a potent attack for Pakistan.

BABAR AZAM
Even though he did not reach the heights that he did against the West Indies earlier in the season, his scores of 31*, 38*, and 46 against South Africa, England, and India are enough to demonstrate his immense talent.

He remains the only batsman to average above 50 for Pakistan in ODIs and the future of Pakistan's batting is in safe hands with Fakhar and him in the top order.

SHOAIB MALIK, IMAD WASIM, RUMMAN RAEES, SHADAB KHAN, FAHEEM ASHRAF
Even though there was no major contribution from either of these players, they did enough to complement Pakistan's batting and bowling to show the talent that they possess.

Malik failed when he got a chance but he looked sublime in his innings against India (group game) before he was run out and against South Africa before the rain interruption.

Imad displayed control with both the new and old ball and kept the run rate in check every time he came on to bowl. In the final he turned it on with the bat too in the end overs showing his value to the team's lower order.

Rumman ad Faheem got only one match each and either could have easily played more if it were not for the better form with the ball of Pakistan's first choice trio. Both made their debuts during the Champions Trophy and showed that they have the ability to compete with the best at this level. Rumman's accuracy and Faheem's utility with bat and ball will prove to be invaluable for Pakistan in the future.

Shadab Khan is a superstar in the making. His bowling is spot on, he can hit hard with the bat, and his fielding is top notch. He owned the point region for Pakistan and is arguably the best fielders in the team. This boy has a long and bright future ahead.

SARFRAZ AHMED
Last but not least, Pakistan's captain, proved to be a leader. To come back and lift the troops after the decimation against India in their opening match, would have been no easy task. The way Sarfraz, along with the coaching staff, kept this team motivated and inspired in every match after that is a phenomenal effort.

Sarfraz did not get much opportunity to showcase his batting talent in this Champions Trophy, but the one time when a captain's knock was required to take Pakistan into the semifinals, he led from the front. His unbeaten 61 against Sri Lanka ensured a Pakistan win after they were looking down the barrel after being reduced to 162-7 while chasing 237.

In that match, Sarfraz's unbroken partnership of 75 with Mohammad Aamer for the 8th wicket, created a new Champions Trophy record for the highest 8th wicket partnership.


Sarfraz is only 30 and he can captain this side for a long time to come if he can show the same level headed approach that he did in this Champions Trophy. He seems to have formed a healthy relationship with Micky Arthur; nothing can be better for a team like Pakistan than to have a united Captain and Coach to lead the charges.

They have a young team under their wings. Shadab is still a teenager; Babar is 22; Hasan and Faheem are 23; Aamer and Rumman are 25; Fakhar and Junaid are 27; Imad is 28. Only Azhar, Hafeez, and Malik are above 30.

This Champions Trophy win is just the start for this core group of players and they will play together for a long time to come. These boys can truly make Pakistan the ODI powerhouse that they once used to be.