3 worst Pakistani bowling attacks to visit Australia for a Test series
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia got underway at the Perth Stadium underway on Thursday. Winning the toss and batting first, the hosts started batting exquisitely, and David Warner silenced his critics with a stellar century.
Pakistan have rarely been successful in Australia in the longest format of the game, and this is a monkey they will be keen on getting off their back.
In the recent past, Pakistan have been put to the sword by the Australians courtesy their poor bowling. Some of the finest Pakistan bowlers have managed to go to Australia and become sitting ducks.
The last three series between these two teams in Australia have been whitewashes in favor of the home team, and primarily due to the lacklustre bowling performances of the visitors.
In this listicle, in no particular order, we bring to you the three worst Pakistani bowling attacks to tour Australia for a Test series.
#1 2009-10
The Pakistan team that toured Australia in 2009-10 was arguably the worst to have ever traveled Down Under. They were whitewashed by the home team 0-3 but the incriminating factor was that they lost a majority of the matches by huge margins.
The bowling attack predominantly consisting of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Abdur Rauf and Saeed Ajmal failed to keep the Australian batters under check.
To be fair to the Pakistanis, this was the last of the golden generation of Australian batters, with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, and Simon Katich still ruling the roost. Pakistan were let down by too many missed chances while fielding, and Australia had no problems taking advantage.
#2 2016-17
Australia beat Pakistan 3-0 in the 2016-17 Test series as well, and two of the three matches were completely lopsided. It was only in the first match that Pakistan came a little close, where they were beaten by 39 runs.
The second match was lost by Pakistan by an innings and 18 runs and the third match by 220 runs.
The bowling attack on this tour, which consisted predominantly of Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Riaz, Yasir Shah and Sohail Khan, was taken to the cleaners by the Australians, especially in the second and third matches.
The likes of Matt Renshaw, David Warner, Steven Smith and Peter Handscomb all feasted upon the bowling attack and added tons of runs to their respective tallies.
#3 2019-20
Pakistan were defeated 0-2 the last time they travelled to Australia for a Test series, in 2019-20. The whitewash would have been particularly demoralising for the side given that there were quite a few top-quality players in their ranks.
Both the games were won by Australia by huge margins - the first by an innings and 5 runs and the second by an innings and 48 runs.
The likes of Mohammad Musa, Shaheen Afridi, Yasir Shah and Mohammad Abbas seemed quite confused and did not get their lengths right on most occasions. Not surprisingly, they were carted all over the ground by the Australian batters.
David Warner, of course, made headlines when he scored a swashbuckling triple-century in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval. Most Australian batsmen had fun scoring runs off this hapless Pakistani bowling attack.