Blog: It's just like home!

Pakistan cricket team had the privilege of winning at least one test against every nation in its initial years. They beat India at Lucknow in 1952, England at The Oval in 1954 and had a consolation win against the Windies at Port of Spain in 1958, but the one country against which the Men-in-Green are always at home is New Zealand. The ‘away’ record of Pakistan cricket team against New Zealand is something any team can be proud of. Its more of a ‘home’ to them, than the hosts.

Pakistan’s first ever win came in Dunedin in 1972-73. Mushtaq Muhammad and Asif Iqbal put on 350 runs for the fourth wicket in the 2nd test of the series. Mushtaq scored a dashing 201 and Asif managed 175. Later, Captain Intikhab Alam took 11 wickets in the match, giving Pakistan their first win in New Zealand. With the Kiwis saving the 3rd test, Pakistan won the series, which became their first overseas series win. With a double century and 5 wickets with his leg breaks in the same match, Mushtaq became the first Pakistani to achieve this remarkable feat.

The next time Pakistan went over, Kiwis were desperate to watch Javed Miandad, the prodigy who thrashed their bowlers all around the park, with a hundred on debut and a double century in his third test in Pakistan, 3 years back. Miandad didn’t disappoint. In the first test at Christchurch, he scored 81 and an unbeaten 160, which put Pakistan in a comfortable position.

Miandad was loitering in the nervous 90s for some time, but the moment he got to three figures, everything was normal. A young boy came over to the pitch to get a picture of the ‘legend-in-making’, and the lion-hearted player greeted the boy and even posed for him, stopping the match proceedings for a moment.

Later, Captain Mushtaq and Wasim Raja dismissed the home team for 176 in pursuit of 305, with Mushy getting 5 and Raja 4 scalps. Asif Iqbal and Majid Khan made hundreds in the second test at Napier, (they had 100 from previous tours as well) and Imran Khan got his 100th Test wicket too. The third test at Auckland also ended in a draw, and Pakistan took the rubber, again. Here, the spectacled Zaheer Abbas got to his maiden Test hundred in New Zealand, but the highlight of the match was 7 catches behind the stumps by the ever-athletic Wasim Bari. Bari, by taking seven catches, equalled the world record for most dismissals in an innings.

Next time Pakistan went over, they had a lanky fast bowler, handpicked by Javed Miandad, with no first class experience. Sarfaraz Nawaz, the backbone of Pakistan seam bowling, had just retired after 15 years of service, Imran Khan, not fully fit after his shin injury, was in Australia playing Sheffield Shield and Pakistan were still searching for a genuine pacer in Rashid Khan, Azeem Hafeez and Tahir Naqqash. The final test at Dunedin became the last test for all three, as that lanky pacer became the youngest to take 10 wickets in a test, took Pakistan very close to victory ….and went on to be known as Wasim Akram to the world. Pakistan lost the series, but they got something which was win them the World (Cup).

Wasim Akram missed the next tour due to an injury, Sikandar Bakht was recalled after 7 years in hiatus and played the replacement ODI for the abandoned First Test at Dundein. Javed Miandad and Shoaib Muhammad got centuries in next two Tests, with Javed getting 271 in one of them. Both tests were drawn with Pakistan still needed to avenge the defeat of 1985.

The next time Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram went together to New Zealand, they only had one test to fulfill their desire. The year was 1993, Pakistan had just become the one-day World Champions and it was New Zealand which boosted them to the finals. Pakistan had twice defeated England in an away test series, had beaten India in India, so New Zealand was no more their only hunting ground.

This time around, Pakistan pace attack comprised of World’s fastest bowler Waqar Younis, who had missed the world Cup due to an injury. He compensated for that loss and the 2 W’s did the magic for their skipper. Pakistan got out for 174 in their second innings of the Hamilton Test, leaving home side to score 127 for victory. Before the final day, New Zealand were39/3 and needed less than 80 runs to win.

Miandad predicted that Pakistan could still win as Pakistan had the capability to bowl the home team before three figures. It sure did happen; Wasim and Waqar bowled unchanged on the final day and gathered 5 wickets each, dismissing the hosts for 93 as Pakistan won the match by 33 runs.

Pakistan also defeated New Zealand under the captaincy of Saleem Malik in 1994/95. Saeed Anwar, who had 6 ODI centuries to himself, got a pair on his Test Debut in 1990. He wanted to prove his worth and what better opportunity could one get than a Test in New Zealand. In Feb 1994, he scored 169 on mere 248 deliveries in the 2nd Test at Wellington, helping Pakistan put on 548. Wasim Akram was the man of the match as he dismissed 11 ‘home’ batsmen in the match. Pakistan won the test by an innings and 12 runs.

When Pakistan went to New Zealand in the winter of 1995, it was resurrection for ‘Mushtaq’. Leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed came of age and entered the league of ‘most feared leg spinners’, for at least 5 more years. Before that, Mushtaq represented Pakistan in 18 tests and captured only 44 wickets, Yasir Shah touched 100 in 18 tests. With county experience, a changed run up let him escape from being an Abdul Qadir clone and Mushy was a changed bowler. In Christchurch, he took his first 10 wickets of the career to change history. In the next 24 tests, he had 125 odd wickets to his name, with 10 fifers and 3 10-wicket hauls.

In 2001, Pakistan went over with half a dozen new players. Current skipper Misbah ul Haq was one of them. There was no Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram and yet Pakistan managed to defeat the Kiwis at Auckland. Muhammad Sami turned out to be the hero as he took 5 wickets in the fourth innings to register the win. Saqlain Mushtaq got to his maiden Test hundred in the 2nd Test. ‘Experience’ returned for the final test; Inzamam for Misbah, Ijaz Ahmed for Saleem Elahi astonishingly as opener and Muhammad Akram for Sami. New Zealand won the Hamilton Test emphatically, managing to draw the series. Margin of defeat was an innings and 185 runs.

When Pakistan went to New Zealand in 2004, it was altogether a new team. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were retired, and the new pace attack had Muhammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul. In the first test, Sami and Shabbir took 5 wickets each in separate innings. The match ended in a draw, despite Moin Khan’s fighting 4th Test hundred. In 2nd Test at Wellington, the Rawalpindi Express made his presence felt. Shoaib Akhtar took 11 wickets in the match, taking the match and the series away from the Kiwis.

Pakistan could have won the 3-match series in 2009/10, with a margin of 2-0, had skipper Muhammad Yousuf shown some guts. Muhammad Asif was back in the side after being suspended for a drug offence, and he was furious. He took 8 wickets in the match which Pakistan lost by mere 32 runs. Umar Akmal scored a century on debut and shared a partnership of over 150 with his brother Kamran. Asif’s 9 wickets in the second test at Wellington earned him the Man of the match award as well as giving Pakistan a series leveling win. The final test at Napier was saved by rain, otherwise Pakistan would have returned home beaten for the second time, from New Zealand.

Just before the 2011 World Cup, Pakistan went to New Zealand, for the last time. The ‘spot-fixing scandal’ had broken the team and the players were regrouping under the new captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Initially, 3 tests were proposed, but with the World Cup in sight, a five-day match was dropped and an ODI and 3 T20 matches were accommodated in its place.

Pakistan held the upper hand in the two-match series, winning the first one at Hamilton by 10 wickets and abandoning a chase at 226/5, requiring 274 runs to win at Wellington. 7 years back, they chased 274 runs at the same ground.

Pakistan is touring the Kiwi-land after a good 6 years. They have risen to the top of Test rankings and have the services of the best batsmen any team can have. They have the best spinner around in the shape of Yasir Shah and Muhammad Amir is in full form. Records and History show that New Zealand is more of a home to Pakistanis, than the ‘hosts’. The Men-in-Green have visited the country 12 times in 50 years, losing a solitary series in 1985, drawing 4 and winning 7. So Go Green!!!