NEWS
Follow UsThe wait is over. After registering their first Test win at home in two years last week in Multan, and thereby snapping a 11-game winless streak, Pakistan have won their first series at home in nearly four years. The last series win at home for the Men in Green came back in January 2021 when they triumphed 2-0 over South Africa.
The wait turned out to be a grueling one but the manner in which Pakistan broke the duck proved to be both wholesome and inspiring. The selectors took radical calls, dropping three big guns in Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. And the hosts took another very bold call by opting to prepare rank turners after going 1-0 down, prepared to risk losing the series in order to break the drought at home.
Their bravery got rewarded as the Shan Masood-led unit comfortably outclassed England in consecutive Tests to walk away with the series. In the series decider in Rawalpindi, despite losing the toss and being behind in the game at one point, Pakistan staged an inspiring comeback to complete the series win.
Fittingly, the comeback was inspired by Saud Shakeel, their best batter over the last 18 months and the duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, who together bulldozed England after entering the XI, picking 39 of the 40 wickets to fall in the last two Tests while also accumulating 160 runs between them.
READ: Sajid Khan becomes first spinner to take 10 wickets in a Test in Rawalpindi
Here are a few notable stats from the series and also the third Test
> This was Pakistan’s first series win over England in nine years. Their last victory came back in October 2015 in UAE, when they triumphed 2-0 in a three-match series.
> A whopping 73 wickets in the series fell to spin (both sides included). It’s the most in any bilateral series played in Pakistan.
> For the first time ever, Pakistan spinners ended up taking all 20 wickets in consecutive Tests (second Test in Multan and third Test in Rawalpindi).
> In the third Test in Rawalpindi, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, two spinners opened the bowling in the first innings of the Test (Sajid & Noman).
> For only the second time in Test history, a team used zero overs of pace in the entire match. The only other instance came in Mirpur in 2018, when Bangladesh went all-spin against West Indies.
> Noman Ali averaged 13.85 in the series with the ball - the best average registered by a Pakistan spinner in a bilateral series (min 20 wkts) and the third-best overall by any Pakistan bowler.
> With the win in Rawalpindi, Pakistan made it 150 victories in Test cricket.
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