Pakistan’s decline in Test cricket continues

More defeats than wins: Pakistan’s decline in Test cricket continues

For the first time in the past four decades, Pakistan have lost more Test matches than they have won after losing the first two Tests of the three-match series against England

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Babar Azam-led Pakistan are set to take on hosts England in the third and final Test of the three-match series at Edgbaston in Birmingham from September 9. However, with England already having sealed the series after comprehensive victories in the first two Tests, the match is more about salvaging pride for Pakistan than anything else.
 
The seven-player overhaul carried out after the Lord’s defeat has added another layer of pressure to a team already going through one of the most disappointing phases in its Test history. England won the opening Test by an innings and 103 runs and the second by 194 runs, leaving Pakistan staring at a potential 3-0 series defeat.
  
The Lord’s defeat was particularly significant because it left Pakistan with more Test defeats than victories for the first time since 1987. They now have 153 wins and 154 losses from 473 Tests, with the remaining 166 ending in draws. Their win-loss ratio has slipped to 0.993, while India’s 187-188 record gives them a marginally superior 0.994 ratio.
 
The numbers suggest that Pakistan’s problems are not confined to the current England tour. Their decline has been building for years, with the batting becoming increasingly unreliable, the once-feared pace attack losing its edge, the home advantage disappearing and constant changes making it difficult to build a settled Test side.

How Pakistan’s numbers have changed

Pakistan made their Test debut against India in Delhi in October 1952, and their early years were characterised by a mixture of defeats and draws as the new Test nation found its feet. They played 29 Tests in the 1950s, winning eight and losing nine, with 12 draws. The 1960s were even more difficult: in 30 Tests, Pakistan won only two and lost eight, while 20 were drawn.
 
The 1970s brought some improvement, although Pakistan still had a losing win-loss record. They won nine and lost 11 in 46 Tests, with 26 draws. It was in the following decade that Pakistan began to establish themselves as one of the strongest teams in the world. In the 1980s, they won 23 of 80 Tests and lost only 13, with 44 draws. Their 1.769 win-loss ratio was second only to the dominant West Indies among the leading teams of that era.
 
That strength carried into the 1990s. Pakistan played 76 Tests during the decade, winning 32 and losing 21, while 23 ended in draws. Their win-loss ratio of 1.523 made the 1990s another highly successful period, with players such as Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar and Saqlain Mushtaq helping Pakistan remain among the world’s leading sides.
 
The 2000s marked the first major warning sign. Pakistan played 83 Tests and won 30 while losing 31, with 22 draws. For the first time since their early years, their defeats outnumbered their victories over a full decade. The record improved marginally when the 2000-2015 period is considered as a whole: Pakistan won 52 and lost 49 in those 134 Tests.
 
The decline accelerated from 2016. Between 2016 and 2021, Pakistan won 19 Tests and lost 23 from 46 matches, taking their win-loss ratio down to 0.826. Since the beginning of 2022, the slide has become even steeper: only eight wins against 20 defeats in 32 Tests, a ratio of just 0.400.
 
The cumulative effect finally erased the historic advantage Pakistan had maintained over their defeats. England’s win at Lord’s was the result that pushed them to 154 losses against 153 victories.
 
The decade-by-decade numbers make the change particularly stark: Pakistan went from winning considerably more Tests than they lost in the 1980s and 1990s to losing considerably more than they win in the 2020s.
 
Pakistan’s Test record by decade

Losing the edge at home

For a team that historically relied heavily on home conditions, the deterioration in Pakistan’s home record is perhaps the most worrying development.
 
The problem became apparent even before the current crisis. Between 2016 and 2021, Pakistan still had a positive record in Tests played at home or in the UAE, winning eight and losing five of 15 matches. That gave them a 1.60 win-loss ratio and provided an important counterweight to their struggles in the SENA countries.
 
Since the beginning of 2022, however, even that advantage has disappeared. Pakistan have won only four of 17 Tests at home or in the UAE while losing nine, taking their ratio down to 0.44.
 
That is a dramatic reversal. A side that could previously compensate for its overseas struggles by dominating in familiar conditions has increasingly become vulnerable even on its own turf.
 
The decline is particularly significant because Pakistan had managed to remain competitive during earlier difficult periods largely through their ability to win at home. Their current record suggests that the problem has spread beyond conditions and opposition.
 
The deterioration has also coincided with repeated changes in personnel and strategy, making it increasingly difficult for Pakistan to establish a settled combination capable of exploiting home conditions.
 
Pakistan Test results at home over the decades:

Away issue persists

Pakistan’s problems overseas have been much more pronounced, particularly in the SENA countries. Between 2016 and 2021, they won only three of 21 Tests in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia, losing 16. Their win-loss ratio in those countries was a poor 0.19.
 
Yet there was still some balance to the record because Pakistan were extremely successful elsewhere. They won eight and lost only two of their 10 Tests in other overseas venues during the same period, including a 5-0 record against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Ireland combined and a 3-2 record in the West Indies.
 
That cushion has largely disappeared since 2022. Pakistan have lost all seven of their SENA Tests in this period. More importantly, their record in other overseas venues has also fallen to 4-4. They are no longer able to offset their struggles against the strongest sides with consistent victories elsewhere.
 
The England tour is therefore not an isolated problem. It is an extension of a broader overseas decline. Pakistan have now gone through repeated overseas campaigns without being able to produce the kind of sustained performances that once defined their Test cricket.
 
The SENA record remains the most damaging part of that equation, but the fact that the “other away” record has also fallen to parity shows that the issue is deeper than simply an inability to handle conditions in England, Australia, South Africa or New Zealand. 
Pakistan Test results away from home over the decades: 

Continued changes hurting the team combination

Constant changes have become another defining feature of Pakistan’s Test cricket. They have used 38 players in 32 Tests since the beginning of 2022, meaning 27 additional players were introduced after the XI for their first Test in that period. That works out to 0.87 new players per Test.
 
Only twice in those 32 matches have Pakistan fielded an unchanged XI — against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2023 and England in Rawalpindi in 2024. They won both matches and sealed the series on both occasions.
 
Three or more changes were made to the XI in 18 of those 32 Tests, while four or more changes were made in 11. Such turnover makes it difficult for combinations to settle, particularly in bowling, where partnerships and familiarity can be crucial.
 
The lack of continuity is also visible in individual appearances. Noman Ali, with 15 Tests, is the most frequently used specialist bowler for Pakistan in this period. Among fast bowlers, Aamer Jamal’s five consecutive Tests is the longest run.
 
The latest overhaul has taken that instability to another level. After the Lord’s defeat, Pakistan released seven players from the squad — Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad. Five uncapped players were among the replacements, alongside Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal.
 
The changes also extended to the coaching staff, with Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul released and Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke brought in for the final Test.
 
Playing 11 changes by Test teams (Since 2022):

Batters failing to deliver

The biggest on-field problem, however, has been Pakistan’s batting. In 32 Tests since the beginning of 2022, Pakistan have been bowled out for fewer than 250 on 29 occasions. Seventeen of those totals have been below 200 — the second-highest number for Pakistan in any 32-Test period. Only their first 32 Tests, between 1952 and 1960, produced more sub-200 totals, with 19.
 
The first two Tests in England have provided another brutal illustration. Pakistan’s four completed innings have produced scores of 110, 194, 171 and 135. None has reached 200.
 
The problem is not simply a lack of one standout batter. It is the absence of sustained high-level output across the top order.
 
Since January 2022, no Pakistan batter has scored at least 750 runs while averaging 45 or more. Saud Shakeel comes closest, with 1,934 runs at 42.97, while Babar Azam has scored 2,227 runs at 42.82.
 
That represents a dramatic fall from the previous generation. Between September 2011 and June 2015, Pakistan had seven batters who scored at least 750 runs while averaging more than 45 in a 32-Test block. Younis Khan averaged 60.75, Sarfaraz Ahmed 54.89 and Misbah-ul-Haq 52.69.
 
Azhar Ali, meanwhile, remains the last Pakistan batter to reach 5,000 Test runs. Since his debut in July 2010, 21 other batters from other teams have crossed that mark without another Pakistan player joining them.
 
Pakistan’s team batting average of 28.24 since January 2022 ranks sixth among the nine teams in the comparison. The gap with the leading teams is substantial, with New Zealand at 32.81, England at 32.04 and India at 31.92.
 
Pakistan’s top run scorers in Tests since 2022:

 
Pakistan vs other team batters: 

Bowling magic disappearing

For decades, Pakistan’s great competitive advantage was their bowling, particularly their ability to produce outstanding fast bowlers. Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif each represented a different generation of pace excellence, while Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq and Saeed Ajmal provided world-class spin.
 
The current numbers are nowhere near that standard. Since the beginning of 2022, Pakistan’s fast bowlers have taken 239 wickets at an average of 35.53 and a strike rate of 59.3. Both figures are the worst among the nine teams in the comparison.
 
South Africa’s fast bowlers have averaged 23.78, Australia’s 23.91 and New Zealand’s 27.45. Even Bangladesh, at 34.73, have a better fast-bowling average than Pakistan.
 
The comparison with opposition pace attacks is even more damaging. Fast bowlers from opposing teams have taken 274 wickets against Pakistan at an average of 27.13 and a strike rate of 51.0.
 
Pakistan’s bowlers are therefore conceding almost eight more runs per wicket than the opposition pace attacks they face.
 
The decline in individual continuity has compounded the issue. Yasir Shah was the last Pakistan bowler to reach 150 Test wickets, doing so in September 2017. Since then, Mohammad Abbas has been the next-highest with 128, followed by Shaheen Shah Afridi on 126 and Noman Ali on 101.
 
The talent is still there, but the sustained dominance that once defined Pakistan’s bowling has disappeared.
 
Pakistan pacer performance in comparison to other teams:

Outside noise continues to contribute to decline

Pakistan’s problems have rarely been confined to what happens between the four lines.
 
The latest England tour has again been accompanied by major upheaval. After the Lord’s defeat, seven players were sent home and two members of the coaching staff were replaced, with the changes coming just days before the final Test.
 
The decision has drawn criticism from former Pakistan figures. Former captain Ramiz Raja described the overhaul as a “panic-button” response, while Shahid Afridi questioned the logic of replacing so many players with the series already lost. Misbah-ul-Haq subsequently resigned from the selection committee amid the fallout.
 
Former Pakistan coach Jason Gillespie has also criticised the lack of stability and professionalism surrounding the changes. He argued that frequent upheaval has undermined consistency and questioned the way players were informed of their removal.
 
Even the red-ball coach, Mike Hesson, has acknowledged that the seven-player decision was made before he took over. He said Rizwan, Imam and Salman Ali Agha had already been released when he was given charge for the final Test.

The issue continues to grow

The wider problem Pakistan face is that the changes keep coming, but the underlying issues remain.
 
Since 2011, Pakistan have given Test debuts to 60 players, yet only Babar Azam has gone on to play 50 or more Tests or score 3,000-plus Test runs, while only Yasir Shah has crossed 150 wickets. India have had 53 debutants in the same period, but 10 have played at least 50 Tests, eight have scored 3,000-plus runs and five have taken 150 or more wickets.
 
The numbers point to a system struggling to turn talent into sustained international careers.
 
Pakistan have now lost 15 of their last 20 Tests, a stretch that is already the joint-worst in terms of defeats over a 20-Test period among the eight oldest Test-playing nations. Another defeat at Edgbaston would make it the outright worst 21-Test stretch among those teams.
 
The third Test cannot rescue the series. It cannot restore Pakistan’s win-loss ratio above one. And it cannot undo years of decline.
 
But it can provide a first indication of whether another round of changes has finally produced a team capable of stopping the slide or whether Pakistan’s Test cricket will continue moving further away from the standards it once set.
Topics :Pakistan cricket teamTest CricketCricket News

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First Published: Sep 05 2026 | 6:47 PMIST

Source: www.business-standard.com