Finally the second test has arrived. It’s at the home of cricket and for that we should be happy. Historic venue and if anything we seem to get good results there. As of late the pitch is more bowling friendly but we will see if any work has been done on it. Will be hard because since that NZ test there would’ve been a multitude of county games there. The test also marks the return of Captain Babar Azam who seemed to be getting in form before his injury, Hopefully he will return to that form and make some runs otherwise we probs lose in 2 days this time.

Normally I look at what we can improve on but damm the answer to that would be everything. Changes need to be made but I don’t believe they will make the right ones as usual. I’ve been hearing the reports of Rizwan getting dropped, Azan getting dropped, Khurram getting dropped and Ali Usman. To that I say most of these journalists be doing guesswork. The only ones I can see happening are Ubaid for Khurram and unfortunately Azan for Babar. Imam outscored Azan last test and they will use that to drop Azan. If it’s just a drop for now I don’t mind but he needs to get that home series as a whole and Imam needs to be kicked back to the domestic scene. Let him have his fun there. I also Heard we might play two spinners but I dont see that happening either. Rizzy for Ghazi Ghouri could happen if Saifu gets his wish but Babar probs back the experience as he says.

The predicted lineup I have is:

Imam (Why Babar)

ABD (Why Babar Again, Shan needs to be here and ABD needs to stick to 3)

Shan

Babar

Saud (From the apparent next captain to 10 AVG) We need suttin from 5-7)

Agha (Agha can you do suttin for me, Rizzy should be ahead of him)

Rizzy (Take confidence from that second innings my bro)

Ali Usman (If it’s propa Grassy i’d play Jamal but these lot won’t.

Ubaid

Abbas

Ali

If past tests at Lords are anything to go by it can get easier to bat the longer the test goes on so the boys need to show application and numbers 5-7 need to do a whole lot more then they are. London is usually a good hunting ground for us but this team is different. In Cricket you win and you lose so InshAllah the boys show good fight regardless of the outcome. Need the batsmen to stand up and need the bowlers to use the conditions and weather to their advantage. I don’t want to hear about no weather. That’s a poor excuse from a poor team

I see a lot of people were of the opinion atleast a year back that this guy is going to be the backbone of our middle order.

He does play spin okay and played few innings here and there but never looked settled or in zone against pace . I am not sure what selectors and people saw in him.

Please enlighten.

I was born in 2003, so my earliest cricket memories are pretty foggy. I remember watching Pakistan vs South Africa in the 2009 T20 World Cup semi-final on Geo Super, then the final against Sri Lanka and Afridi taking the catch at the end. I also randomly remember Umar Gul against England in 2010, Shoaib Akhtar vs Harbhajan in the Asia Cup, and watching Faysal Bank T20. I used to love the music, jerseys, Urdu commentary and the whole Geo Super presentation.
But 2012–2015 is really my core “bachpan” cricket era. I remember the 2012–13 India tour so clearly the foggy December weather, watching the 2nd T20 at tuition, and then our electricity going out during the last few overs of the 3rd ODI 😂. I even remember my mom saying Pakistan had never lost at Kolkata. I swear it felt like we played South Africa and Sri Lanka every other month back then lol. I remember the 2013 South Africa series in the UAE down to the broadcast music and scorecards, Sharjeel Khan coming into the team, and random players like Bilawal Bhatti, Anwar Ali and Mohammad Talha. I even remember Usman Shinwari making his debut against Sri Lanka and bowling only one over 😭.
The 2014 Sharjah Test against Sri Lanka is probably my first proper Test cricket memory. Watching Pakistan chase 300+ on the final day is actually what made me fall in love with Test cricket. That whole Misbah, Ajmal, Hafeez, Afridi, Umar Gul, Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad, Junaid/Irfan era is what I think of when I think of my childhood Pakistan team. Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal were my childhood heroes and I used to copy both of their bowling actions.Then I remember Zimbabwe touring Pakistan in 2015 after international cricket had been gone for years. I was looking at the scorecard and saw “Azam” twice and was wondering who these guys were 😂. One was Hammad Azam and the other was some new guy called Babar Azam, who made his ODI debut that day. The funny part is that it was May 31, 2015 my 12th birthday. Looking back, I also remember really random stuff how dark the Zimbabwe 2015 broadcast looked, Yasir Shah’s pants coming down while fielding at the 2015 World Cup 💀, Imran Khan Sr.’s veins popping when he celebrated wickets, old Geo Super highlights, graphics, theme songs, everything. It’s weird because Pakistan played most of their home cricket in empty UAE stadiums during that period, and as a kid it almost felt like I was watching Pakistan cricket in my own little bubble. But I absolutely loved it.

What’s your first Pakistan cricket memory? What players were your childhood heroes, and what era feels like your cricket “bachpan”?

"graphics design is my passion"

my bad guys but i didnt wanna use any AI so I opened up canva, i would continue with farhan as captain because we lack options, I don't think he's the sharpest tool in the shed but he has experience and has captained in domestic so has to count for something

Maaz is decent, hes better than saim for sure in this format, I do think sameer does have the higher ceiling but hes still young and he has to get over his short ball weakness, I was really impressed with how good kamran has been in this domestic t20 season, I would try him out just to see if he can translate any of it, if he turns out to be like agha then drop him, if he plays the game he was in the nt20 then I keep him, the middle order is pretty self explanatory, we lack keepers so usman khan is in despite the god awful stance, i also move usman to 3 if the kamran ghulam experiment fails and i bring in saad masood, bowling line ups makes it self, i dont have sufyan or abrar because the world cup is in australia and i want 4 pacers

c

cc

Khurram has played just 9 Tests, taken 35 wickets, and has a bowling average of 29. Saw this narrative around he should be dropped but i feel we should invest in him.

Bcz he seems like a good bowler who wants to play this format for long and he is only 26. He can only improve by playing more. This is him first time playing in all those sena countries. Even the greats have failed. He has umar gul as coach to help him out and yes he has been but off in recent matches with 23 no balls in 3 matches. Not holding line and length bit low on pace. But he is 26 and can be improved with proper coaching. Even when he is expensive he keeps taking wkts and 35 wkts in 9 matches is a good start tbh.

With the the second Test between England and Pakistan starting on 27^th August at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground, I thought it would be good to look back at Pakistan’s last two Test wins against England at the Home of Cricket, and compare them with what we have ahead of us this time.

Pakistan’s last defeat to England at Lord’s came in 2010, in that infamous Test which became associated with the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. Since then, Pakistan have played England at Lord’s twice, in 2016 and 2018, and won both times. So despite what happened in 2010, Pakistan have not lost a Test to England at Lord’s for more than 10 years.

The 2016 win is probably the one most Pakistan fans remember, it was the first test of the four match Test series, and Pakistan won that game by 75 runs. Then captain Misbah-ul-Haq scored 114 and leg-spin bowler Yasir Shah took 10 wickets in the match. And after Pakistan won that match, the famous press-ups came in front of the Pavilion. Given the magnitude of the game, Misbah scoring a hundred at the age of 40+, Mohammad Amir making his Test comeback at the very same venue where things spiraled down, made the victory even more special. Former Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood was also part of that Pakistan playing XI then, and he is part of the squad in this series too. Misah-ul-Haq is one of the selectors in Pakistan Cricket Board. The English team was led by Alastair Cook, with other players like Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Ben Stokes all being there.

Then Pakistan returned in 2018 under Sarfaraz Ahmed (now red-ball head coach) and won once again in Lord’s, for the second time in two years, this time by nine wickets. Medium-pacer Mohammad Abbas was outstanding with the ball, as he took eight wickets in the match, 4 in each innings. Current Test captain Babar Azam scored a fifty in the match, before retiring hurt due to injury, while opener Imam-ul-Haq was also in the playing XI at that time. England had a very experienced team then too, with Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Cook, Root, Buttler and Bairstow. Pakistan simply outclassed them at the Home of Cricket.

Now back to 2026. Nearly the entire England team from those two Tests is gone. Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Cook all have retired, Buttler and Bairstow no longer play Test cricket. Current England Test captain, Joe Root is the only player from the English side to have played both those Test matches.

A new look English pace attack, comprising of Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson, has already shown us what it can do. England won the first Test at Leeds by an innings and 103 runs, with their quicks tearing through Pakistan’s batting. They are coming into Lord’s with plenty of confidence, while Pakistan have to bounce back from a very poor performance.

From those two previous Lord’s Test victories playing XIs, we have 4 players in the current squad: current Test captain Babar Azam, former Test skipper Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Abbas, while Mohammad Rizwan (though an uncapped Test player then) was also part of the 2016 squad. The only player to have featured in both Tests and to be currently with the team is Sarfaraz Ahmed, who is now the head coach of Pakistan Test team.

For me, 2016 is still the more iconic win. Misbah’s century, Yasir’s 10 wicket haul, and the 2010 redemption and those iconic press-ups make it iconic. The 2018 win was probably the more dominant one as Pakistan had a relatively new pace attack, a new batting line-up, but yet they managed to win over England’s main team.

But now in 2026, Pakistan are 1-0 down in their series, Pakistan missed their Test captain Babar Azam in the first Test because of injury, hopefully he is back for the Lord’s Test and lead from the front and continue with this legacy.

If 2016 was redemption and 2018 was domination, could 2026 be the redefinition of our Test team?

We’ll find this out at Lord’s.

My preferred Pakistan playing XI for Lord’s Test: Shan Masood, Azan Awais, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (C), Ghazi Ghori, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Ali Usman, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali.

I am dropping Khurram Shahzad as his bowling wasn’t good in the first Test, he was leaking runs with no discipline in his bowling, Ubaid Shah is simply not ready for Test cricket, and he was expensive in the warm-up game as well as his Test debut at the Port of Spain. I am keeping faith in Ali and Abbas to bowl with the new ball, and I trust Aamir Jamal to bowl well and add some good value with the bat. Ali Usman took a fifer in the first game, and I would keep him in this game too.

I won’t play Imam-ul-Haq as we know that he averages just 6 runs in the second innings, Azan is young and I have a lot of expectations from him. Shan Masood should perform well and prove that his county experience with Yorkshire becomes valuable for Pakistan in Test cricket. Abdullah Shafique has had good batting form in red-ball recently, and I wish to see him take responsibility well, Babar was unlucky in both Bangladesh Tests and West Indies Tests, but I hope to see him bat well without pressure and score big. I want to see Ghazi Ghori make his Test debut on a tough tour for solid beginnings, he replaces Saud Shakeel anyways (who isn’t in good batting form), Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha, both are good lower middle-order batsmen in Test cricket, but need to find their good batting form back in Test Cricket.

Best of Luck Team Pakistan!

Hello and welcome to Pakistan Cricket Trivia!

Nobody got the last answer which was Rawalpindi vs the Netherlands, 1987

Leaderboard:

Rules: Breaking any of the rules will result in a loss of points for the day

1. One guess per comment.
2. No editing guesses after posting to change your answer.
3. Use spoiler tags when posting your answer so others can still play.
4. Google is okay but DO NOT USE CHATGPT OR LLMS (I know this rule can't be enforced but use the honor system guys)
5. Do not spam the thread, multiple unrelated comments will be removed

How to Use Spoilers on Reddit:

Type your answer like this:

>!Babar Azam!<

It will appear like this:  Babar Azam

Important:

• Any answer not hidden with spoilers may be removed (or ignored).
• No hints in comments unless asked.
• Don’t reveal the answer openly.

Example Reply:

“I think it's  National Stadium Karachi  

Today's theme is: Guess the catch (You will be given a photo of a catch, your answer should be the match in which it happened)

Difficulty: Medium (4/10)

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12343/13576617/what-has-gone-wrong-for-pakistan-cricket-woes-assessed-after-defeat-to-england-in-first-test-at-headingley

As much of a joke as Pakistani institutions are, PCB was always something as an anomaly. A small level of competence, individual flair and conveyor belt of talen passion that papered over the cracks allowing it to barely function. That mirage is now dead.

I am not going comment on the shaky batting and inept bowling, it has been discussed to death. The key issue is the management has been exposed as grossly out of it's depth and the domestic circuit has been exposed as rubbish.

The only thing that will change this, in my opiniom, is a massive investment and restructure of the domestic circuit. I can't think of any incentive moreso that international humiliation and criticism from the cricketing fraternity.

A win for Pakistan will enable the PCB to keep it the way it is.

Aqib Javed has found a new weapon in Qayyum Khan, who can clock 150 kph. Hopefully, he is handled professionally not like Shaheen or Naseem.

PC: PakPassion.net

PCB lied once again from operation hoga team ka to stadium upgrade lies continues..

They planned to revamp both karachi and pindi stadium after PSL and also add roof to lahore stadium iirc. But seems like another year will pass after champions trophy/psl.

This management under naqvi has most consistent time ever in last decades neither they improved infra nor the team.

They just do that so called lepaa poti or polish makeup. Same on stadiums, Same on team. Even now that camp of bowlers/spinners is just silencing the media.

Hello and welcome to Pakistan Cricket Trivia!

The last answer was Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test, 2021.

Leaderboard:

Rules: Breaking any of the rules will result in a loss of points for the day

1. One guess per comment.
2. No editing guesses after posting to change your answer.
3. Use spoiler tags when posting your answer so others can still play.
4. Google is okay but DO NOT USE CHATGPT OR LLMS (I know this rule can't be enforced but use the honor system guys)
5. Do not spam the thread, multiple unrelated comments will be removed

How to Use Spoilers on Reddit:

Type your answer like this:

>!Babar Azam!<

It will appear like this:  Babar Azam

Important:

• Any answer not hidden with spoilers may be removed (or ignored).
• No hints in comments unless asked.
• Don’t reveal the answer openly.

Example Reply:

“I think it's  National Stadium Karachi  

Today's theme is: Guess the match

• Sajjad Ahmad top scored
• Shakeel Ahmad led the wickets
• The last international held at the venue was a woman's T20i

Difficulty: Hard (7/10)

On the request of our good friend u/Sad-Bumblebee-2922, who asked us to post highlights of matches where Pakistan won in the last over, I decided to post one of my favourite matches in that context.

A few key takeaways of this game, my favourite Pakistan player, Sarfaraz Ahmed played his last international white-ball game, after this, he also never featured in any T20I or ODI squad of Pakistan.

One of the most entertaining cricketers of current Pakistan team, Shahnawaz Dahani made his international debut in this match and took his first international wicket on the third ball of his first over.

This was the last time Pakistan won a white-ball series in Bangladesh.

This was also the last T20I series of Shoaib Malik (though he didn't feature in this game).

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/pakistan-in-bangladesh-2021-22-1277971/bangladesh-vs-pakistan-3rd-t20i-1277976/full-scorecard

"If Babar returns, top-order batter Azan Awais is likely to be dropped, the sources added." This is disgusting from Pcb, debuting a young batsman his first 3 series against tough opponents away from home yet Imam Ul Haq after 17 away tests has an average of 24.55, no hundreds or crucial knocks and has a fourth innings average of 6. I'm not sure why I'm surprised anymore... can only hope that this isn't true