Oct 17, 2005 08:00 PM
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(Updated Nov 17, 2005 01:21 AM)
Pakistan is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and one-day international status. It played its first Test match in 1952 (against India at Delhi), becoming the seventh Test nation.
Pakistan first test victory came in the second test match in Lucknow before their first defeat in New Delhi and Drew the series.
Then Toured England in 1954/1955 Pakistan and England Drew the series thanks to Fazal Mahmood devastating spell of top class bowling.
Then Toured New Zealand, Pakistan Outclassed New Zealand to win their first test series away from home.
Pakistan Team then Shocked the Australian team to win there first series at home.
They played a strong West Indies side in the West Indies in 1956/1957, they lost their first ever test series 3-1, but after that there was no looking back for this great cricketing team.
Pakistan has long been a moderately strong team, occasionally verging on brilliance.
Amongst many cricket followers, however, the team has a reputation for inconsistent performance, being unbeatable one day and looking decidedly poor the next.
Pakistan has produced many excellent bowlers such as Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar, but fewer top class batsmen.
Pakistan's bowlers are known for developing and perfecting the art of reverse swing bowling to a high degree of proficiency.
History of Pakistani international cricket
Cricket has been followed religiously in Pakistan for a long time.
While Pakistan is one of the oldest teams currently playing, most would agree that it rose to dominance and began to be considered very seriously under the captaincy of Imran Khan.
Some of Pakistan's most memorable matches have been the One Day Internationals (ODI) it has played against the neighboring nation of India.
Although it has been very difficult to predict whether Pakistan would win a match against India, significantly the smaller nation has won 65 of the 107 ODIs it has played against India.
During the tour of India in 1997, the Pakistan team consistently and decisively outperformed the opposing side on their home turf.
Batsman Saeed Anwar put on a show of brilliant batting performance making a total of 194 runs (the highest ever in ODIs).
Renowned Pakistani cricketers include
Fazal Mahmood, Hafeez Kardar, Hanif Mohammed, Wasim Bari, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Waseem Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul Haq, and Shoaib Akhtar.
Current Team
The current Pakistani Team players are
Inzamam-ul-Haq(Captain),Younis Khan(Vice Captain,)Salman Butt,Kamran Akmal(Wicket-Keeper),Mohd Yosuf, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Abdur Razzaq, Arshad Khan, Asim Kamal, Mohd Sami, Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan and Shoaib Akhtar.
