Ranking Pakistan's 5 most successful Test match captains of all time
Pakistan made their international bow way back in 1952 in a Test series against arch-rivals India. Although they lost the series 2-1, it laid the foundation for some epic encounters in the future.
In fact, the men in green dominated the India-Pakistan battles until the early 2000s. It was only in 2003/04, under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly, that India won their first-ever Test series in Pakistan.
Despite being a strong team, especially in the 80s and 90s, Pakistan cricket has always been mired in controversies and inconsistencies in their performances. They can beat the best of teams on their day, but could as easily lose the next game without a fight.
Captaincy can be a hard job for any player, especially if you have to assume the leadership of teams like India and Pakistan. The fans are especially demanding and always expect the team to do well in all conditions. Therefore, it is no surprise that Pakistan have had 31 Test captains in their 68-year history.
Amongst these 31 players, the likes of Imran Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad have had the opportunity to lead the team for a good number of years with success. On the other hand, great players like Zaheer Abbas and Hanif Mohammad have wilted under the pressure, emphasising the fact that great players do not always make great leaders.
In this article, we look at the most successful Pakistan Test captains based on the number of Test victories they’ve achieved.
#5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (2003-2007) – 11 Test Victories
Matches as Captain: 31; Won: 11; Lost: 11; Drawn: 9
Inzamam took over the captaincy during tumultuous times for Pakistan cricket, after the team had just crashed out of the 2003 World Cup.
In need of a stabilising figure, Inzy performed the role to perfection, keeping the team competitive even in challenging times. In his first away series, Inzamam captained Pakistan to a 1-0 series victory in New Zealand.
In 2004/05, Inzamam led his side to a famous 1-1 draw in India, despite being considered the weakest Pakistan team ever to set foot on Indian shores. The man from Multan led from the front, and scored a series-defining 184 in the third and final Test match to steer them towards victory to level the series in Bangalore.
Apart from the New Zealand tour, Inzy also led his side to a hard-fought 1-0 series win in Sri Lanka, against a side boasting of the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene in the peak of their powers.
Despite notable home successes against England, West Indies, and India, Pakistan struggled overseas in the latter part of Inzamam’s captaincy, most notably losing 3-0 to England in 2006.
The series is remembered for all the wrong reasons. In the 4th Test of the series, Inzamam and his team refused to take the field after tea on the 4th day, and the umpires had no choice but to award the game to England.
#4 Wasim Akram (1993-1999) – 12 Test Victories
Matches as Captain: 25; Won: 12; Lost: 8; Drawn: 5
Wasim Akram is one of the greatest fast bowlers of all-time. As a leader though, he had an aggressive and confrontation style of captaincy, which sometimes did not bode well within the team.
Being a great player meant he expected the same level of performance from his teammates as well. Interestingly, Akram only captained 8 of his 25 Tests at home, during which Pakistan never lost a series. This included a 3-0 thumping of the West Indies in 1997/98, whose team contained the likes of Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carl Hooper.
The peak of Akram's leadership came during the Asian Test Championship in 1999, where they beat both India and Sri Lanks to be declared the best team in Asia.
Other impressive results included a 2-0 victory over England in England in 1996, a series in which he and Waqar Younis famously reverse swung England out of the series. The two speedsters finished with 11 and 16 wickets in the series respectively. They were superbly complemented by leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who finished as the highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps.
Wasim Akram stepped down from captaincy after a 3-0 drubbing in Australia in 1999/00.
#3 Imran Khan (1982-1992) – 14 Test Victories
Matches as Captain: 48; Won: 14; Lost: 8; Drawn: 26
Probably the best captain that Pakistan has ever produced, Imran Khan remains the only Pakistan captain till date to lift the 50-over World Cup trophy. A flamboyant captain, Pakistan enjoyed a tremendous amount of success under his leadership during the 80s.
Under his watch, Pakistan were notoriously difficult to beat both home and away. To prove the point, the great West Indies side of the 80s failed to beat Imran Khan's men both home and away in three attempts. In fact, Khan did not lose any of his six Test series at home, ad hammered both India and Australia 3-0 in 1982/83.
Grooming the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Khan ensured that his team was able to compete against any opposition away from home.
This strategy reaped rewards as they won their first-ever series in England in 1987, with Khan himself winning the Man of the Series award, and Wasim Akram picking up 16 wickets. A year earlier, Pakistan also won their first-ever Test series in India, winning the 5-match series 1-0.
Despite winning only 14 of his 48 Tests as captain, Imran changed the face of Pakistan cricket. Keeping faith in the younger generation and playing a fearless brand of cricket ultimately led to his greatest achievement- lifting the 1992 World Cup in Australia & New Zealand.
#2 Javed Miandad (1980-1993) - 14 Test Victories
Matches as Captain: 34; Won: 14; Lost: 6; Drawn: 14
Along with Imran Khan, Javed Miandad formed the backbone of Pakistan cricket during the 80s and the early 90s. A controversial character, Miandad would never shy away from the action.
A street-smart cricketer, the Karachi man is rather underrated when it comes to the list of great Pakistan captains. Miandad became the Pakistan captain at the age of 22, with him under the spotlight during the 1981/82 tour of Australia, where he famously shaped to strike Dennis Lillee with the bat after the former had kicked him.
After nominal success as captain in his first few series, Imran Khan took over the mantle. Yet, when Khan would be nursing an injury or taking a break from the game, the responsibility of captaincy would always fall on the lap of Miandad.
After winning just one of his first five series as captain, Miandad went on a brilliant winning run. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka, England, Australia, and New Zealand at home, winning 7 Tests and losing none under Miandad's leadership.
After successes captaining the side at home, away success soon followed. Miandad led Pakistan to a couple of away tours in the early 90s, and beat England 2-1 and New Zealand 1-0 on their home grounds.
#1 Misbah-ul-Haq (2010-2017) – 26 Test Victories
Matches as Captain: 56; Won: 26; Lost: 19; Drawn: 11
Comfortably number 1 on this list, Misbah-ul-Haq holds the record for the captaining Pakistan for the maximum number of times (56) and winning the most Tests as well (26).
Despite not being as charismatic as Imran Khan or Javed Miandad, Misbah’s calm and non-controversial nature helped Pakistan regain their foothold after a cloud of match-fixing hit the nation in 2010.
The United Arab Emirates, Pakistan’s adopted home, became a fortress during Misbah’s tenure, as the team remained unbeaten across nine series. They beat a good England side twice (2012/13 & 2015) and notched up their first Test series victory over Australia since 1994/95.
Pakistan, under Misbah’s leadership in 2016, drew the series 2-2 in England- the first time since 2007 that England failed to beat a subcontinent side at home.
However, apart from the English series, Pakistan’s record away from home remained dodgy, and they suffered whitewashes in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, and New Zealand.
Despite the setbacks, Misbah will go down in the history of Pakistan cricket as one their greatest captains ever. He also led the team to the number 1 Test ranking in 2016.