Pakistan was granted Test status in 1952, five years after gaining independence, during a meeting at Lords by the Imperial Cricket Conference. Their first tour was to India in the same year for a 5-match Test series, which they lost 2-1. Initially, results were hard to achieve due to a lack of professionalism in Pakistani cricket. A significant moment came in 1954 when they beat England, their former colonial rulers, for the first time at The Oval in London, drawing the series 1-1. Fast bowler Fazal Mahmood, who took 12 wickets in the match, was the star player. Over the years, Pakistani cricketers have been known for being both brilliant and unpredictable. Due to limited cricket infrastructure, many players do not receive much coaching in their early years, developing their skills on their own. This might explain why Pakistan often produces cricketers with raw and unique talent.
Here are the 10 greatest Pakistani cricketers of all time:
10. Fazal Mahmood
Pakistan has had many great fast bowlers over the years, like Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis. This shows Pakistan’s strong fast bowling culture. But the first great fast bowler from Pakistan, who started it all, was Fazal Mahmood.
Born in Lahore, Punjab in 1927, Mahmood was the star bowler for Pakistan in the 1950s. He was the key player in Pakistan’s first two Test wins against India and England in 1952 and 1954, taking a total of 24 wickets in those two matches. He continued to play an important role in Pakistan’s success throughout that decade and retired in 1962.
Hanif Mohammad, a famous Pakistani cricketer, once said about Mahmood: “He was a great human being, always willing to help anyone who sought his advice. All our wins since we started playing Test cricket were because of him.“
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9. Younis Khan
Younis Khan is one of Pakistan’s great modern cricketers and has been very important to Pakistan cricket for the last 15 years. With Pakistan’s batting struggling in recent times, Younis, along with one or two others, has had the main job of scoring lots of runs in Test cricket. He has taken on this responsibility and performed well consistently.
Younis is the third highest run-scorer for Pakistan in Test cricket, behind only Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. He has scored 7589 runs in 90 Tests with an average of 51.97. Younis has made 24 Test centuries, just one less than Inzamam, who holds the record for the most centuries by a Pakistani batsman.
8. Abdul Qadir
Abdul Qadir is by far the best leg-spinner Pakistan has ever had. He took 236 wickets in his 67 Test matches. His best performance was taking 9 wickets for 56 runs against England in Lahore in 1987, which is the best by any Pakistani in Test cricket. One of the batsmen he dismissed, Graham Gooch, said Qadir was even better than Shane Warne, which is a huge compliment. Qadir was amazing with the ball, using many different tricks and variations, often 2-3 in a single over. He had a well-disguised googly that confused many batsmen.
7. Inzamam-ul-Haq
Inzamam-ul-Haq isn’t often mentioned alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Brian Lara when people talk about modern great batsmen, but his record is close to theirs.
When Inzy, as he was fondly called, joined the Pakistan team in 1991, captain Imran Khan praised him highly and said he was one of the best batsmen against fast bowling. Inzy had a lot of talent and could have achieved more in his career, but he did very well, scoring 8830 runs in 120 Tests with an average of 49.60, and 11739 runs in 378 ODIs with an average just under 40.
6. Zaheer Abbas
Zaheer Abbas, who scored 100 centuries in first-class cricket and was known as the Asian Bradman, was a joy to watch when he was playing well. He was part of a strong Pakistan team in the 1970s and, along with Javed Miandad, was a key player in their batting lineup.
The highlight of Abbas’ career was his 274 runs against England at Edgbaston in just his second Test match. He quickly became known for making big scores and rarely getting out once he was settled. He lived up to this reputation, scoring three more double centuries in his Test career.
Abbas retired from Test cricket at the age of 38, having scored over 5000 runs in his 78 Tests.
5. Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis, along with his senior partner Wasim Akram, troubled batsmen worldwide in the 1990s.
With his fast speed and aggressive nature, Younis was very dangerous, especially when the ball started to reverse swing. His unique round-arm action aimed at the base of the stumps more often than other fast bowlers, and he usually hit his target.
His aggressive style meant he sometimes gave away runs, but he didn’t mind as long as he got wickets.
Injuries and issues with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) led him to play his last match for Pakistan at the age of 31, which is relatively early. Despite this, he is still considered one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.
He took 373 wickets in 87 Test matches, with a strike rate better than any bowler with over 200 Test wickets. He also took 416 wickets in 262 One Day Internationals (ODIs).
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4. Javed Miandad
Hanif Mohammad helped Pakistan batsmen in the 1950s, but Javed Miandad took it to the next level with his achievements as a Pakistan cricketer.
Miandad was seen as a great talent from a young age, and he proved it by scoring 163 and 206 against New Zealand in his debut Test series. This was just the start of many contributions throughout his long international career.
He ended his Test career in 1993 against Zimbabwe as Pakistan’s top run-scorer in Test cricket, with 8832 runs from 124 Tests at an average of 52.57. Besides his Test success, he was also a great ODI player, scoring 7381 runs in 233 ODIs at an average of 41.70. He was a key part of the 1992 World Cup winning team.
3. Hanif Mohammad
Born in present-day India, Hanif Mohammad was the first truly outstanding batsman to emerge from Pakistan. Known as the “Little Master”, he played 55 Tests for Pakistan in a career that spanned 17 years, and in that time, he scored 3915 runs at an average of nearly 44.
The highlight of his long career was undoubtedly his triple hundred against West Indies in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1957-58. Facing a deficit of 473 runs after the 1st innings, Hanif made 337 in an innings that lasted more than a colossal 16 hours, thereby salvaging a miraculous draw from a hopeless situation.
His record of playing the longest Test match innings ever has stood the test of time, and his 337 is also the only occasion that a batsman has scored a triple century in the 2nd innings of a Test match.
2. Wasim Akram
At his best, Wasim Akram was the most dangerous bowler of his time. He could swing the ball both ways, whether he bowled over or around the wicket, and his speed was over 90 mph.
The 1992 World Cup final between Pakistan and England in Melbourne shows Akram’s brilliance. In the 35th over of England’s run chase, Akram bowled around the wicket and took Allan Lamb’s wicket with a ball that seemed to come in before suddenly moving away, hitting Lamb’s off-stump. On the next ball, he bowled Chris Lewis with a delivery that sharply came back in.
Akram ended his career with 414 Test wickets and 502 ODI wickets from 104 and 356 matches, respectively.
1. Imran Khan
People say there was a big rivalry between Imran Khan and Javed Miandad when they played for Pakistan, but even Miandad would probably agree that Imran is the best cricketer Pakistan has ever had.
Imran is one of the best all-rounders in cricket history. He played a huge part in turning an average team into one that almost beat the unbeatable West Indies team of the 1980s in Test cricket. He also led Pakistan to their only 50-over World Cup win in 1992.
Imran took 362 wickets in just 88 Tests with an average of 22.81. He also scored 3807 runs with an average close to 40 in a career that lasted 20 years. He gained high praise for discovering and mentoring Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who became champion bowlers, in addition to his own achievements.
| Rank | Player | Tests | Test Runs | Test Average | Test Wickets | ODI Runs | ODI Average | ODI Wickets | T20I Runs | T20I Average | T20I Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imran Khan | 88 | 3807 | 22.81 | 362 | 3529 | 26.44 | 182 | – | – | – |
| 2 | Wasim Akram | 104 | 2898 | 23.62 | 414 | 3717 | 23.52 | 502 | – | – | – |
| 3 | Hanif Mohammad | 55 | 3915 | 43.98 | – | 1451 | 40.91 | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Javed Miandad | 124 | 8832 | 52.57 | 9 | 7381 | 41.70 | 1 | – | – | – |
| 5 | Waqar Younis | 87 | 373 | 23.56 | 373 | 416 | 23.56 | 416 | – | – | – |
| 6 | Zaheer Abbas | 78 | 5060 | 44.79 | – | 2575 | 42.12 | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | Inzamam-ul-Haq | 120 | 8830 | 49.60 | – | 11739 | 39.52 | 3 | 594 | 26.82 | – |
| 8 | Abdul Qadir | 67 | 1329 | 32.80 | 236 | 657 | 22.45 | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Younis Khan | 118 | 10099 | 40.10 | – | 7249 | 31.25 | 12 | 971 | 24.35 | – |
| 10 | Fazal Mahmood | 34 | 10 | 2.10 | 177 | 421 | 21.04 | 120 | – | – | – |
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