Review of Tests between the West Indies and Pakistan-1

Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies in 2016-17 was historic in more than one way. Besides the overly sentimental last Test series for Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, this was the first time that Pakistan had won a Test series in the West Indies. Pakistan had won series in Pakistan and neutral venues before. But their best results in the West Indies had been draws; 1-1 in 1987-88, 2005 and 2011. Until their 2-1 victory this time.

Here is a summary of all Tests between the two countries:

As we can see, Pakistan has consistently done better at home and in neutral venues, but not in the West Indies. There was a long gap between 1959 and 1975 when these teams did not meet.

We start with the batting records:

Most runs (500 and above):

Among current players, Younis Khan has the highest with 1030 followed by Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq and RL Chase.

M. Yousuf has the most centuries (7) followed by Inzamam and Lara with 4. M. Yousuf also has the most scores of 50-plus (10) while several others have 9. The most by a West Indies player is 9 by Viv Richards.

Highest individual scores (125 and above):

While Gary Sobers’s former world record has pride of place, it is followed by Hanif Mohammad’s ultra-defensive 337 from the same series. From the current series only Chase (131) and Azhar Ali (127) qualify.

Best batting averages (minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Wasim Raja surprisingly tops this, while only Younis Khan is here from current players. Many prominent players such as Mohammad Yousuf, Gary Sobers and Misbah did not play enough innings. But you can see their averages in the first table above.

Enough for now. Will look at bowling, fielding and all-round records in the next post.

 

Tests between Pakistan and the West Indies-1

Better late than never. Here is a summary of all Tests between these countries including the recently concluded series in the UAE. A point of interest was that the West Indies recorded their first victory over Pakistan in neutral Tests, having lost 2-0 in 2002 and now 2-1. We see that they had lost all 4 neutral Tests against Pakistan till then.

49 Tests have been played between these countries. Pakistan now lead 18-16 with 15 draws. A summary:

                    Pak      WI       Draw  Total

In Pak         9              4          8           21

In WI           5             11          7           23

Neutral       4               1         0             5

Total          18            16      15           49

We now look at batting:

Most runs (500 and more):

M. Yousuf has the most centuries (7) followed by Inzamam and Lara with 4 apiece

M. Yousuf also has the most 50+ scores with 10, while four others have made 9.

And M. Yousuf has scored the most runs in this series though he played in  a relatively small number of Tests.

Highest innings (150 and above):

The top score here was the world record Test score for almost 40 years and strangely enough, Gary Sobers’s maiden Test hundred. In the same series, Pakistan recorded their highest score of this series which was one of the longest in all first-class cricket. It is still Pakistan’s highest Test score and the longest innings in all Tests (though no longer the first-class record).

Azhar Ali is the only current player here.

Highest batting averages (20 or more innings, all instances):

Wasim Raja tops this rather surprisingly. But heavy scorers such as M. Yousuf (101.16 in 14 innings), Sobers (89.45 in 13 innings) and Hanif (73.60 in 11 innings) did not play enough to feature here. See the first table above for their averages.

Mention must also be made of Kraigg Brathwaite’s batting feat (which deserves a post to itself): https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/kraigg-brathwaites-unique-feat/

Now for bowling:

Most wickets (20 and more):

The top few names are as expected, while newcomers such as Bishoo and Yasir Shah are climbing rapidly.

Imran has the most fivers (6), followed by 4 each by Akram and Walsh. No one has taken more than one tenner.

Best innings bowling (6 or more wickets):

Bishoo’s 8-49 was the second best in this series, though his team did not win that match. The only other current player here is Yasir Shah at the bottom, though at least his team did win.

Best match bowling (9 or more wickets):

Bishoo and Yasir Shah also appear here.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Current players will take a while to reach here.

It can be seen that the best economy rates are 2.05 by Gibbs and 2.36 by Fazal. The best strike rates are 39.6 by Younis and 41.7 by Croft.

To be continued.

Hanif Mohamad R.I.P.-some highlights

This time it is true-he did pass away on 11th August. We review some highlights of his career. There is of course Cricinfo for an overview.

Hanif made his debut in Pakistan’s very first Test in 1952, remembered more for Mankad’s 13-wicket haul. Here he made 51 and 1, and was also the designated wicket-keeper. That didn’t go too well, as he conceded 28 byes in India’s only innings besides taking one catch. He played his first 3  Tests (all against India in 1952-53) as a wicket-keeper but never kept in Tests later.

He is remembered for his 337 against the West Indies, which occurred in the very first test between Pakistan and the West Indies: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62835.html

Note that his 337 came in a follow-on, and the 4 successive century partnerships with Imtiaz, Alimuddin, Saeed Ahmed and brother Wazir. Ultimately Pakistan lost the series 3-1, running into Sobers and his 365 not out along the way. And the 970-minute innings is a record in all Tests, though not in first-class cricket now.

Hanif’s innings was a record for all first-class cricket for over 40 years, until it was broken in a Ranji Trophy match between two weak sides: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283145.html

In Tests, only Gary Kirsten has come close.

Then there was the first-class record which stood for over three decades. It came about a year after the Test mentioned above.

http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/Firstclass/Overall/Highest_Player_Scores.html

And this was the match scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/engine/match/308265.html

While most of the Karachi team had played or would play for Pakistan, the Bahawalpur team did not have any Test players.

The Parsi Institute Ground has since sunk into obscurity, hosting its last first-class match in 1976-77.

Finally, here is a souvenir from the birthplace of the Mohammad brothers (taken in 2013):