Last Friday was a glorious anniversary for Pakistani cricket, 10 years on from a 10-wicket win against England at the Oval. Younis Khan, their greatest run-scorer, hit a double hundred. Yasir Shah, a magical leggie and Lionel Messi lookalike, took a five-fer. Misbah-ul-Haq, their 42-year-old captain, led his men on a victory lap in south London and would have the ultimate reward a few days later. His side, unable to play at home since 2009 because of an attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus, moved up to No 1 in the Test rankings for the first time.
There is a link to that golden period on their current tour of England. Sarfaraz Ahmed, their wicketkeeper back then, is now the Test head coach, but these are much darker times for the national team. Sarfaraz’s presence underlines the obscene volatility within Pakistani cricket, a never‑ending search for new answers while results inevitably suffer. The number of head coaches/team directors Pakistan have had across formats since 2021 is into double figures, and there’s really no point trying to count how many selectors have had a go. Like Joe Root, Babar Azam is back for his second stint as Test captain, having replaced Shan Masood before last month’s tour of the Caribbean.
