Draft: Pakistan All-Time Test XI Draft

[Aislabie]

I was planning to go with Shoaib so this isn't exactly ideal.

Babar Azam

Test stats - 2,045 runs @ 45.44 (5 centuries, best 143) in 29 matches
First-class stats - 4,057 runs @ 43.15 (8 centuries, best 266) in 65 matches

At the age of just 26, Babar Azam has a huge career ahead of him. No, he hasn't yet scored the Test centuries that his talent would merit, but you know what - I don't care. He's got another ten years at least to etch himself into the pantheon of Pakistani greats, and he will do so. Since he finally broke his century duck two years ago today, he's averaged a whopping 67.94 in 13 Test matches. He's got it figured out.

1.
2.
3.
4. Babar Azam
5. Mushtaq Mohammad
6.
7.
8. Fazal Mahmood
9.
10.
11.


@Ahmad94

 

[Ahmad94]

1. Aamer Sohail
2.
3.
4. Zaheer Abbas
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Mohammad Asif


@CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

I'll go with Shoaib Mohammad, Hanif's son, who averaged 44 in 45 Tests. Pakistan's most underrated opener.

CerealKiller's XI
1. Shoaib Mohammad
2.
3. Azhar Ali
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Wasim Akram
9.
10.
11.

@Na Maloom Afraad

 

[Aislabie]

Have gone back and written about Fazal Mahmood. Deeply underrated cricketer.

 

[CerealKiller]

Have gone back and written about Fazal Mahmood. Deeply underrated cricketer.

I cannot recommend Osman Samiuddin's "The Unquiet Ones" enough, for a thorough history of Pakistan cricket. The first few chapters about the early era are pure gold.

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Na Maloom Afraad missed his deadline so I'll be making my pick shortly

 

[ahmedleo414]

My next pick will be "Magestic" Majid Khan

Stats|Matches|Runs|HS| Ave|100s/50s|Wkts|BBI|BBM| Ave|Econ|5w/10w
First-Class|410|27,444|241|43.01|73/128|223|6/67|?|32.14|?|4/0
Test|63|3,931|167|38.92|8/19|27|4/45|4/56|53.92|2.43|0/0

A bit of his bio from cricinfo

"All grace and fluency, Majid Khan played in the spirit of an English amateur of a bygone era. He had a distant air which sometimes gave the impression that he wasn't really trying. Majid was a Cambridge Blue and he followed his father Jahangir Khan into Test cricket, though he never matched his father's feat of hitting a sparrow in flight at Lord's. He started his career as a pace bowler, but a back injury and doubts over the legitimacy of his bouncer turned him into an occasional offspinner. His batting prowess quickly moved him up the order, and he eventually formed one half of a highly successful opening partnership with Sadiq Mohammad. Majestic driving and hooking were his hallmarks, and he could score effortlessly at speed."

Although having taken over 200 wickets in First Class cricket, Majid will be used as primarly a batsman and a part time spinner (it all depends on how the rest of my team turns out)

My Team so far

1. Saeed Anwar
2. Majid Khan
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?
11. Waqar Younis

@AsadRM you have the next pick

 

[AsadRM]

Nobody has picked the great leggie Abdul Qadir? Well thank you

Asad's all-time Pakistan Test XI:

4. Javed Miandad
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq
11. Abdul Qadir

@blockerdave you go next with 2 picks!

 

[ahmedleo414]

I was debating between Qadir and Majid. I made my choice and I'm sticking with it

 

[blockerdave]

Nobody has picked the great leggie Abdul Qadir? Well thank you

Asad's all-time Pakistan Test XI:

4. Javed Miandad
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq
11. Abdul Qadir

@blockerdave you go next with 2 picks!

Qadir was gonna be one of my next picks. Majid Khan was also a fantastic pick.

Having picked 2 batsmen last time, I’ll pick 2 bowlers this time.

Mohammed Amir - a fantastic, skilful and threatening bowler. He’ll take the new ball with Sarfraz Nawaz - the father of Pakistani reverse swing.

@AsadRM back to you

 

[AsadRM]

This has to be the most thoughtful pick considering that I don't get a pick in the next 13 turns, so I have to absolutely spot on.

I'll go with the criminally underrated, a Pakistan great Asif Iqbal. A batting average of 38 and 55 in Tests and ODIs, respectively is no easy feat. Added to that his lethal right-arm medium pace was also more than handy accumulating 53 Test wickets at an average of 28. Unfortunately for him, he developed back problems which stunted his bowling, otherwise he was capable of much more.

A wonderful article on him: Asif Iqbal: A Specialist In The Impossible | Wisden Almanack

Asad's all-time Pakistan Test XI:

4. Javed Miandad
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq
6. Asif Iqbal
11. Abdul Qadir

@ahmedleo414

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

@Na Maloom Afraad missed his deadline so I'll be making my pick shortly

Crap.

Late pick: Saqlain Mushtaq, will write-up later.

 

[ahmedleo414]

Crap.

Late pick: Saqlain Mushtaq, will write-up later.

Why did I fall asleep... That was so I was going to pick for my next one....

Since Abdul Qadir and Saqlain Mushtaq have been taken, the next logical spinner would be Mustaq Ahmed

Stats|Wkts|BBI|BBM| Ave|Econ|5w/10w
First-Class |1,407|9/48|?|25.67|3.06|104/32
Test |52|7/56|10/106|32.97|2.92|10/3

His bio from cricinfo

"A bubbly, chubby legspinner with googlies aplenty, Mushtaq Ahmed is styled on his hero Abdul Qadir, whom he succeeded in the team. He is a matchwinner with a full house of legspin variations. At his best he is not far behind Shane Warne, but he does not get the in-drift and rip that makes Warne unique and he gets less bounce because of a lower arm. He is a compact though not especially competent batsman who fends too gingerly to hint at permanency at the crease. Mushtaq has also suffered the vagaries of the Pakistan system. But his enthusiasm remains undimmed, despite being out of the team since a poor run of form in 2000-01. Some of his most memorable performances have been away from home, in England and Australia, and he played a key role in propelling Imran's Tigers to World Cup glory, memorably snaring Graeme Hick with one of his googlies. In 2003 he became the first bowler in five years to take 100 wickets in the English season, a return which was instrumental in guiding Sussex to the first Championship title in their history,a feat he and they repeated in 2006 and the following season. However, he put his future with the county at risk by signing with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. Persistent knee trouble forced him to retire from first-class cricket towards the end of the 2008 season and he was quickly snapped up by the ECB as England's spin-bowling coach."

ahmedleo414's playing XI:

1. Saeed Anwar
2. Majid Khan
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. Mushtaq Ahmed
   
10. ?
11. Waqar Younis

[DOUBLEPOST=1606404438][/DOUBLEPOST]@Na Maloom Afraad has the next pick

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Why did I fall asleep... That was so I was going to pick for my next one....

Thanks man

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Again, sorry for no write-up. Will do it once I have ample time.

My pick is Mudassar Nazar.

@CerealKiller next, I think?