Did the '90s belong to Pakistan, just like '80s to the West Indies and the early 2000s to Aussies?

[ghaint]

I feel the Pakistan team of the 90s was the strongest team in the 90s, just like the Aussies in the 2000s and WI in 1980s. Batting, allrounders, great wicketkeepers, fast bowlers, spinners - it had everything. I had their posters in my room. Being an Indian, i gave my team 1 in 3 chance of winning, even with the great Sachin Tendulkar performing. The poor Pakistan results in this period could be explained by match fixing. That team had the fear factor and aggression. Now Pakistan just have great fast bowlers along with Shadab and Babar. The fear factor is missing. I am glad to have witnessed probably the greatest Pakistan team of all time.

 

[TheNightWatchman]

No

 

[Suleiman]

Yes it was. Thanks for noticing. You were lucky to witness the greatest Pakistan team of all time so far. The torch was passed from WI to Pakistan around 1987 and then Pakistan graciously passed the torch to Australia in the 1999 WC final.

Saeed Anwar, Inzimam, A Razzaq, Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Ijaz Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Moin Khan, all of these players revolutionized how modern day limited overs cricket would be played in the future.

If that team played today, it would win every t20 WC ever and a few ODI ones as well.

 

[Hitman]

They lost 2 Test series to Sri Lanka, and 1 to Zimbabwe at home in the 90's. Add to that got whitewashed in Australia.

 

[Aseem_04]

Is it sarcasm or are you serious?

 

[giri26]

To be frank Pakistan underachieved massively in the 90's for the team they had. To be frank except for Australia who were solid and SA who were brilliant, the rest of the teams were ranging from inconsistent to mediocre. West Indies were a force for the first half of the 90's and SL were in the latter half. But Pakistan did not dominate world cricket like they should have. They lost home series to Zimbabwe and also got bowled out for 43 against West Indies in 1992/93.

As a team Pakistan regularly bullied India, England and possibly New Zealand but against rest of the world they weren't that dominant as they should have been. They were a great side and won the WC in 92 but they did not take off from there and dominate like the Aussies of 2000's and WI's of 70's and 80's. I think people are giving a short string to SA who were brilliant in 90's and also won their only ICC trophy in that decade as well. They were brilliant and competitive where ever they played and were extremely difficult to beat.

 

[Cric1234]

They lost 2 Test series to Sri Lanka, and 1 to Zimbabwe at home in the 90's. Add to that got whitewashed in Australia.

I don’t think they were number 1 in tests or ODIs talk about overrating your own team the players would not win multiple world cups they failed in multiple world cups more like.

Afridi was decent in one the 2009 T20 was a failure mainly in ODIs same with Inzimam Yousuf Younis Razzaq mostly bottlers on the big stage.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

For all of the 90's? No way. They were comfortably 3rd and that's both in Tests and ODIs. South Africa and Australia were more consistent in both formats

 

[RamLakhan]

It has to be South Africa, they were even stronger than Australia. West Indies were still formidable at least in early 90s. (their batting started declining). Pakistan were next best. Sri Lanka also grew stronger in mid-nineties...

 

[Jazx]

Pakistan underachieved in 90s maybe due to corruption or anything else. Lost too many test series at home whereas they should have been dominant there. South africa was the best followed by Australia, Pakistan, West Indies.

 

[Varun]

For much of the 90s, Pakistan's captains were Wasim Akram and Salim Malik.

Fair to say that consistently being #1 on the rankings was not on their priority list.

 

[jnaveen1980]

For all of the 90's? No way. They were comfortably 3rd and that's both in Tests and ODIs. South Africa and Australia were more consistent in both formats

I remember Pakistan created a dubious record of consecutive losses against SA in ODI. 13 or 14. From 1994 to 1999.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

I feel the Pakistan team of the 90s was the strongest team in the 90s, just like the Aussies in the 2000s and WI in 1980s. Batting, allrounders, great wicketkeepers, fast bowlers, spinners - it had everything. I had their posters in my room. Being an Indian, i gave my team 1 in 3 chance of winning, even with the great Sachin Tendulkar performing. The poor Pakistan results in this period could be explained by match fixing. That team had the fear factor and aggression. Now Pakistan just have great fast bowlers along with Shadab and Babar. The fear factor is missing. I am glad to have witnessed probably the greatest Pakistan team of all time.

Living in the glories of the past is one unconscious notion of being embarrassed to what we have now.

Unless you are joking, the thought process behind the opening post is embarrassing.

 

[umerz]

In terms of talent team was up there with the best however in terms of results they were no way near.

 

[TheSultan]

This has been analysed to death. Pakistan should have taken the baton, they had everything, but they imploded in many different ways.

On the flip side, just when you thought they were finished, they’d stun you again. Frustrating to follow but compulsive viewing.

You can’t build any consistency when you keep changing leadership. 1990-1995 we had 4 different captains - and that was the stable period! Beyond 1995, I couldn’t actually keep up.

 

[TheSultan]

The most annoying aspect was the 1993 Tour of West Indies. That was the moment Pakistan could have fully taken the crown. World Champions, they had a great series in England, followed soon after with the Hamilton test. Then the PCB did something so inexplicable on the most important tour of all - they removed Javed as captain and made a young wasim who was an absolutely amateur captain the leader.

It was not Wasim’s time and it showed both on and off the pitch starting with the weed incident in in Grenada.

 

[umerz]

This has been analysed to death. Pakistan should have taken the baton, they had everything, but they imploded in many different ways.

On the flip side, just when you thought they were finished, they’d stun you again. Frustrating to follow but compulsive viewing.

You can’t build any consistency when you keep changing leadership. 1990-1995 we had 4 different captains - and that was the stable period! Beyond 1995, I couldn’t actually keep up.

At one point Pakistan team had 7-8 players in the team who had captained the side. Ramiz, Salim Malik, Wasim, Waqar, Rashid Latif, Aamir Sohail, Moin Khan, Saeed Anwar

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I think it could have been our golden generatiom but they severely underachieved for a wide variety of reasons

 

[Hitman]

The most annoying aspect was the 1993 Tour of West Indies. That was the moment Pakistan could have fully taken the crown. World Champions, they had a great series in England, followed soon after with the Hamilton test. Then the PCB did something so inexplicable on the most important tour of all - they removed Javed as captain and made a young wasim who was an absolutely amateur captain the leader.

It was not Wasim’s time and it showed both on and off the pitch starting with the weed incident in in Grenada.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...34;template=results;type=batting;view=innings

 

[SpiritOf1903]

I think it could have been our golden generatiom but they severely underachieved for a wide variety of reasons

Mostly financial

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pakistan stood no chance against methodical teams like South Africa. They would often go in auto-pilot mode until they choke.

 

[TheSultan]

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...34;template=results;type=batting;view=innings

Talking about captaincy - pointless link, but thanks

 

[Majestic]

80s - Windies
90s - SA but a case can be made for Aus too
00s - Aus
10s - Ind
20s- Pak*

 

[jnaveen1980]

80s - Windies
90s - SA but a case can be made for Aus too
00s - Aus
10s - Ind
20s- Pak*

I presume it includes Tests as well. W/L ratio is mere 0.666 for pakistan. Ranking 6th in that list. 2020 no definitive dominating force yet. ODIs England.

1990s SA definitely W/L Ratio is comfortably higher than any one else in other formats
2000s Australia absolutely dominated in Tests/ODi W/L ratio is crazy good.
2010 India has the highest W/L ratio in all 3 formats against top 8 sides

 

[Hitman]

Talking about captaincy - pointless link, but thanks

The difference being that Ambrose and Walsh weren't complete newbies that they were in 1988. Anyways, the routine story of his career against West Indies.

 

[Aseem_04]

80s - Windies
90s - SA but a case can be made for Aus too
00s - Aus
10s - Ind
20s- Pak*

Lol on what basis 20's pak? For being below par in tests or mediocre in odis but good in t20's.

 

[shaz619]

They were the team of the 90’s off the pitch

 

[TheSultan]

The difference being that Ambrose and Walsh weren't complete newbies that they were in 1988. Anyways, the routine story of his career against West Indies.

I’ll ask again, and for your benefit I’ll ask very slowly.

What
Does
That
Have
To
Do
With
Captaincy
?

 

[Major]

Never seen the 90s te, but i would assume it was the under rated second best team just how under rated the SA of 2000s were.

They were the only team that was capable of matching Australia performance wise and even defeated them in that infamous run chase. They get overshadowed abit because of Australia plus not winning icc tropies.

Now adays, the overshadowed team is NZ while England is the dominate one.

I wonder if in90s pakistan was like the nz of today and sa of 2000s

 

[Majestic]

I presume it includes Tests as well. W/L ratio is mere 0.666 for pakistan. Ranking 6th in that list. 2020 no definitive dominating force yet. ODIs England.

1990s SA definitely W/L Ratio is comfortably higher than any one else in other formats
2000s Australia absolutely dominated in Tests/ODi W/L ratio is crazy good.
2010 India has the highest W/L ratio in all 3 formats against top 8 sides

Just an assumption given the resources they have got.

 

[Mamoon]

Never seen the 90s te, but i would assume it was the under rated second best team just how under rated the SA of 2000s were.

They were the only team that was capable of matching Australia performance wise and even defeated them in that infamous run chase. They get overshadowed abit because of Australia plus not winning icc tropies.

Now adays, the overshadowed team is NZ while England is the dominate one.

I wonder if in90s pakistan was like the nz of today and sa of 2000s

Pakistan from 1990 to 1995 were very good. From 1996 to 1999 they were pathetic especially in the Test format.

South Africa in 2000s and New Zealand today were (are) very steady and consistent teams. They didn’t experience the lows Pakistan did in the late 90’s.

 

[Mamoon]

People blame match-fixing, but there were serious deficiencies in the Pakistan team as well. The batting was reliant on Saeed Anwar and Inzamam who was nowhere near the class of three best Test batsmen of the 90s: Tendulkar, Lara and Steve Waugh.

 

[PakLFC]

No. Pak did not rule the 1990's like the West Indies and Australia did their decades. That team was probably the best Pak team off all time yet indiscipline was at the heart off it. Infighting meant they under achieved after Imran Khan had retired. Many cheating claims and match fixing allegations were never far off back then.

 

[Buffet]

Not even close.

Pakistan was comfortably the third best team in 90s.

 

[Jazx]

People blame match-fixing, but there were serious deficiencies in the Pakistan team as well. The batting was reliant on Saeed Anwar and Inzamam who was nowhere near the class of three best Test batsmen of the 90s: Tendulkar, Lara and Steve Waugh.

Batting is indeed never a strength of any pakistani side. Their all time best batsmans are not even equivalent to some of the second string all time bests from other teams. But still 90s team have some very good names with inzi, anwar, salim malik, ijaz, sohail, basit who collectively creates a formidable batting lineup. But they failed to perform as a team due to internal groupings and match fixing.

 

[Major]

Pakistan from 1990 to 1995 were very good. From 1996 to 1999 they were pathetic especially in the Test format.

South Africa in 2000s and New Zealand today were (are) very steady and consistent teams. They didn’t experience the lows Pakistan did in the late 90’s.

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] one thing i never understood was, on the face of Waseem Akram, all these ex players will say Waseem was the best captain they played under.

But when we read Akhtar's book and Afridi's book, they explain what was actually happening under waseems captaincy. He never socialized with the juniors and it was a groupf of 4-5 players who saw themselves as Seniors and never had discussion with juniors etc.

So wonder what is true

 

[ChTab]

90's to Pakistan??

Didn't they lost a test series vs Zimbabwe at home?

 

[Local.Dada]

Pak in the 90s closest comparison is India in 2015-2022 post Dhoni era. Big name players, choked a lot, a lot of captains, conflicts and egos but go into most tournaments as favorite.

Pak of that era was good in Eng and Nzl and competitive in SENA bar Aus

India of this era (2015-)is practically unbeatable at home or sc and won 2 series in Aus and competitive in SENA bar Nzl

This will sting for some but both teams had exciting fast bowling in tests that would make matches out of nothing or would implode.

Pak in the 90s used to introduce random players out of nowhere on “talent”

India does a modern version of that which is based on IPL at times.

I am not sure who ever even outside the Op thought Pak was comparable to WI and Aus of those respective eras lol

 

[Local.Dada]

People blame match-fixing, but there were serious deficiencies in the Pakistan team as well. The batting was reliant on Saeed Anwar and Inzamam who was nowhere near the class of three best Test batsmen of the 90s: Tendulkar, Lara and Steve Waugh.

Pakistan have these mercurial players. On their day a Shadab or Ifthikar look no less than any WI hitter or English hitter surrounded by the usual.

Even Nawaz came out of nowhere won a game against India and probably now fading away by the looks of it. Hope not for his sake. Decent utility T20 cricketer.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pakistan from 1990 to 1995 were very good. From 1996 to 1999 they were pathetic especially in the Test format.

South Africa in 2000s and New Zealand today were (are) very steady and consistent teams. They didn’t experience the lows Pakistan did in the late 90’s.

NZ was Pakistan's perennial bunny in the 90s and early 2000s. They never liked the raw pace. Anything that goes under the feet of those laid-back batsmen. Most of the fast bowlers from Pakistan had their best figures against NZ invariably. Pakistan bowling average especially fast bowler average against NZ through the 90s was staggering. 19 or 20. Even Mohammad Sami had his way with NZ. West Indies/SA were good sides in the early 90s. Australia was in rebuilding phase. But Pakistan did not win much against those sides. Mostly NZ bullying.

 

[TheSultan]

Wasim from his second coming in 1996 was an excellent captain. Obviously a lot of his thinking was inherited from Imran. The problem was that we shifted the captaincy around for various reasons ranging from infighting to match fixing allegations.

If Wasim was continuously captain from 1996-2000 with a stable team, the results would have been a lot better. Self inflicted yes, but has to be acknowledged that no team can perform to expectations when you keep changing teams / personnel nearly every series.

Take the tour of SA in 1998. Wasim was removed prior to the tour as captain and also not selected either. Rashid Latif was named captain, but he got injured before the first test with Amir Sohail taking over. Moin performed well in Rashid’s absence as Pakistan went 1-0 up after 2 tests.

Rashid became fit again in the 3rd game, Moin couldn’t be dropped due to his good performances and played as a batsman and Wasim Akram was then recalled after a big hue and cry over selection. Pakistan lost that match (even with some notable performances) and the series was drawn!

This was the crazy nature of Pakistan cricket at the time. They didn’t lack the players. It was everything else

 

[Robert]

WI were still top until 1995. After that, Australia came to the fore with Warne & McGrath.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Never seen the 90s te, but i would assume it was the under rated second best team just how under rated the SA of 2000s were.

They were the only team that was capable of matching Australia performance wise and even defeated them in that infamous run chase. They get overshadowed abit because of Australia plus not winning icc tropies.

Now adays, the overshadowed team is NZ while England is the dominate one.

I wonder if in90s pakistan was like the nz of today and sa of 2000s

No. West Indies was the only team to compete with Australia both home and away in the 90's. Pakistan lost all 3 away series , lost 1 home series and just about won the 94 series by 1 wicket.

 

[Usman Chadda]

What a joke. Some of us lived through the 90s and watched these superstars represent Pakistan to bigger disappointments than the current lot.

Social media was not big then, otherwise you wouldn’t have such nostalgic posts. Our batting, despite having Saeed Anwar and Inzamam, used to get destroyed consistently by Australia and South Africa.

Only reason they looked alright was because the rest of the teams were garbage, and India was close to minnow level. People in Pakistan remember our duels with India more so than the overall cricket these ‘superstars’ played in that era.

Pakistan cricket was quite good during the 80s, since then it has been on a consistent downward curve.

 

[mastermind_quad]

What a joke. Some of us lived through the 90s and watched these superstars represent Pakistan to bigger disappointments than the current lot.

Social media was not big then, otherwise you wouldn’t have such nostalgic posts. Our batting, despite having Saeed Anwar and Inzamam, used to get destroyed consistently by Australia and South Africa.

Only reason they looked alright was because the rest of the teams were garbage, and India was close to minnow level. People in Pakistan remember our duels with India more so than the overall cricket these ‘superstars’ played in that era.

Pakistan cricket was quite good during the 80s, since then it has been on a consistent downward curve.

Exactly

+1 from me.

Under achieved a lot during that period.

 

[TheSultan]

WI were still top until 1995. After that, Australia came to the fore with Warne & McGrath.

Correct, although there were still question marks for Australia until the 3-0 victory vs Pakistan in 1999. They lost in Pakistan in 1994. They lost the one-off test against a very mediocre Indian side in 1998. They failed to beat West Indies in 1999 in Lara’s series. They had already made England and SA their bunnies in the 90s but the real worldwide dominance came post 1999.

 

[TheSultan]

No. West Indies was the only team to compete with Australia both home and away in the 90's. Pakistan lost all 3 away series , lost 1 home series and just about won the 94 series by 1 wicket.

The West Indies themselves had some stinkers too. I don’t think there was one or two dominant teams in that era. Australia were a nudge ahead of the rest, but West Indies, Pakistan and South Africa all had their moments.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

The West Indies themselves had some stinkers too. I don’t think there was one or two dominant teams in that era. Australia were a nudge ahead of the rest, but West Indies, Pakistan and South Africa all had their moments.

What I meant was oy West Indies had a decent head to head against Australia in the 90's. Pakistan was not that good against Australia even in the 90's.

 

[Zaz]

It shouldve been but it wasnt due to infighting, instability and match fixing

Pakistan went from hot to cold in matches, regularly lost to Aus and South Africa and even to minnows sri lanka and zimbabwe at home in tests

The captaincy was passed like pass the parcel and players were in and out of the team like yoyos

Who can forget the bangl defeat in 1999?
That was pakistan in a nutshell in the 1990s

If only there was stability in leadership and management pakistan shouldve but didnt

 

[Usman Chadda]

It shouldve been but it wasnt due to infighting, instability and match fixing

Pakistan went from hot to cold in matches, regularly lost to Aus and South Africa and even to minnows sri lanka and zimbabwe at home in tests

The captaincy was passed like pass the parcel and players were in and out of the team like yoyos

Who can forget the bangl defeat in 1999?
That was pakistan in a nutshell in the 1990s

If only there was stability in leadership and management pakistan shouldve but didnt

That’s a myth too, propagated more so by the commentators and players from that era. We had selfish cricketers, who would show up individually but hardly clicked collectively as a team. Also, technically even our best batsmen were found wanting more often than not in foreign conditions.

They did well in England due to good enough exposure to those conditions in county cricket, while they failed horribly in Australia and South Africa. South Africa specially used to be quite difficult for the 90s team.

That era actually led to this ‘unpredictable’ tag, where you had some once in a lifetime individual performances surrounded by rubbish most of the time.

Losing a test match to Zimbabwe in Pakistan takes the cake for such a ‘star-studded’ team.

 

[jeetu]

Tests
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Team [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Tied [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]South Africa [/td][td]1992-1999 [/td][td]66 [/td][td]29 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]24 [/td][td]2.23 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]108 [/td][td]54 [/td][td]25 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]29 [/td][td]2.16 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]76 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]21 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]1.523 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]30 [/td][td]28 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]1.071 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]India [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]69 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]20 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]31 [/td][td]0.9 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]67 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]31 [/td][td]0.636 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]England [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]107 [/td][td]26 [/td][td]43 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]38 [/td][td]0.604 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]0.531 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zimbabwe [/td][td]1992-1999 [/td][td]39 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]0.157 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

ODI's
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Team [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Tied [/td][td]NR [/td][td]W/L [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]South Africa [/td][td]1991-1999 [/td][td]177 [/td][td]110 [/td][td]61 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]1.803 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]225 [/td][td]140 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]1.728 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]261 [/td][td]146 [/td][td]105 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]1.39 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]195 [/td][td]96 [/td][td]89 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]1.078 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]India [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]257 [/td][td]122 [/td][td]120 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]1.016 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]217 [/td][td]98 [/td][td]107 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]0.915 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]England [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]135 [/td][td]60 [/td][td]70 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0.857 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]191 [/td][td]73 [/td][td]105 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]0.695 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zimbabwe [/td][td]1992-1999 [/td][td]126 [/td][td]35 [/td][td]83 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0.421 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Kenya [/td][td]1996-1999 [/td][td]33 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]25 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0.28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]U.A.E. [/td][td]1994-1996 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0.166 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bangladesh [/td][td]1990-1999 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]29 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0.103 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Netherlands [/td][td]1996-1996 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Scotland [/td][td]1999-1999 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[jeetu]

Pakistan Best Phase was between 90-94 in tests
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Team [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Tied [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]2.5 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]50 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]2.2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]35 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]India [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]31 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]1.25 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]South Africa [/td][td]1992-1994 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]1.2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]England [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]52 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]0.565 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]36 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]0.4 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka [/td][td]1990-1994 [/td][td]29 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]0.181 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zimbabwe [/td][td]1992-1994 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]0 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

Series Breakdown
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Series [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Tied [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][td]Start Date [/td][td]Winner [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan in Australia [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]12-Jan-90 [/td][td]Australia [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand in Pakistan [/td][td]3 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]10-Oct-90 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies in Pakistan [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]15-Nov-90 [/td][td]drawn [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka in Pakistan [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]- [/td][td]12-Dec-91 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan in England [/td][td]5 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]4-Jun-92 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan in New Zealand [/td][td]1 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]2-Jan-93 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan in West Indies [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]16-Apr-93 [/td][td]West Indies [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zimbabwe in Pakistan [/td][td]3 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]- [/td][td]1-Dec-93 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan in New Zealand [/td][td]3 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]10-Feb-94 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan in Sri Lanka [/td][td]2 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]9-Aug-94 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia in Pakistan [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]- [/td][td]28-Sep-94 [/td][td]Pakistan [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[Markhor]

From the mid-1980s up until 1995, Pakistan were a genuinely top class team in both formats.

Pakistan hadn't lost a home Test series for 15 years. They drew three successive Test series against West Indies; beat England away twice in 1987 and 1992; beat India away in 1987; beat New Zealand away three times; and defeated Australia at home in 1994.

In ODIs, Pakistan won several multilateral tournaments such as 1989 Nehru Cup, 1989 Champions Trophy, 1990 Australasia Cup, 1991 Wills Trophy and the 1992 WC. Don't let the fortuitous fashion of 1992 hide the fact it was a consistent ODI team.

Unfortunately, Imran's Inheritors as the title of John Crace's book goes, were too immature for leadership roles. Javed Miandad's combative nature and poor man management led to his downfall. Wasim tried to skipper in the same authoritarian manner as Imran - causing a revolt led by Waqar this time bringing Saleem Malik to power.

Malik was tactically shrewd but an unethical character. Then the captaincy merrygoround began and some shocking home Test defeats followed.

Pakistan's batting was okay. Arguably only Saeed Anwar was world-class. Inzamam didn't score a home Test century until 1997 vs WI, and had his weaknesses against AUS and SA. His peak IMO was as captain. Ijaz had technical flaws (although excellent in AUS) while Salim was past-it after 94.

The fielding was poor even then. It was the bowling that obscured these weaknesses and pulled off the miraculous wins we remember.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan was up there.

But, I think 90's was kind of open. No team was truly invincible.

 

[Kianig89]

Whitewashed in Australia lost at home to Australia lost in SA lost at to home Sl and Eng , Pakistan were no way near Australia of 2000s back in 90s, Pakistan had 7-8 World class players who depending upon their mood turn up in games nothing else, infact SL carted us in late 90s in ODIs and we lost a triseries final to SA pre-choker era

 

[sweep_shot]

Whitewashed in Australia lost at home to Australia lost in SA lost at to home Sl and Eng , Pakistan were no way near Australia of 2000s back in 90s, Pakistan had 7-8 World class players who depending upon their mood turn up in games nothing else, infact SL carted us in late 90s in ODIs and we lost a triseries final to SA pre-choker era

I think there were possibly many fixed games too. Not just Pakistan but also other teams.

 

[Birdman]

Pakistan was a good team on paper in the 90's, but they did not do anything significant. South Africa probably had the best team in the 90's.Aussies were transitioning from Border to Taylor era; England, India, SL, NZ, and Zimb were decent teams. WI were on the decline.

 

[Justcrazy]

Pakistan was good team , but instead of talent we need to talk about results . Pakistan won just one WC , they could not beat SA in SA or Australia in Australia, so they were not the best of the decade.

 

[zulfiqar]

All round cricket team (odis and tests) only Australia wad ahead. Both were WC winners and 2 time finalists, and pak made qfs in the 3rd one as well. SA or SL take 3rd spot (SA for consistency, but lose out due to WC performance).

Test cricket alone: aus and sa were comfortable ahead of pakistan.

 

[NishanKonar]

Pakistan was bang average in the 90s against every team except India , England & New Zealand - who were even worse in the 90s

India was so pathetic in the 90s - no wonder they got routinely thrashed by Pakistan

 

[NishanKonar]

All round cricket team (odis and tests) only Australia wad ahead. Both were WC winners and 2 time finalists, and pak made qfs in the 3rd one as well. SA or SL take 3rd spot (SA for consistency, but lose out due to WC performance).

Test cricket alone: aus and sa were comfortable ahead of pakistan.

Even India was technically ahead of Pakistan in test cricket. Never lost home series for almost 20 years while Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe , Australia, South Africa and England in the 90s

 

[Usman Chadda]

Even India was technically ahead of Pakistan in test cricket. Never lost home series for almost 20 years while Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe , Australia, South Africa and England in the 90s

India was a joke when they travelled abroad, I mean literally a meme cricket team. Pakistan wasn’t so flash either, but they had some memorable performances.

 

[zulfiqar]

Even India was technically ahead of Pakistan in test cricket. Never lost home series for almost 20 years while Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe , Australia, South Africa and England in the 90s

Except that home test record is not all that test cricket is about.

Pakistan played 76 games, winning 32, losing 21, and drawing 23 for a W/L of 1.523.
India played 69 games, winning 18, losing 20, and drawing 31 (W/L of 0.900).

For reference, the full W/L list for 1990s:
SA 2.23
Aus 2.16
Pak 1.523
WI 1.071
Ind 0.900
SL 0.636
Eng 0.604
NZ 0.531
Zim 0.157

You can see why I put SA, Aus, Pak as the top 3 Test nations.

In overall cricket (including ODIs) the reason I say SA drops further behind Pak and Aus is that accross 3 world cups, they had 2 SF and 1 QF appearances. Pak were winners, runner-ups, and had a QF appearance. Aus were winners, runner-ups and did not qualify for knockouts once. Puts Aus at #1 and Pak at #2 for the team of the 1990s for me.

 

[Cricket-lion]

They should have but under achieved for many reasons. Pakistan definately had the players to be the best team in the world.

 

[NishanKonar]

Except that home test record is not all that test cricket is about.

Pakistan played 76 games, winning 32, losing 21, and drawing 23 for a W/L of 1.523.
India played 69 games, winning 18, losing 20, and drawing 31 (W/L of 0.900).

For reference, the full W/L list for 1990s:
SA 2.23
Aus 2.16
Pak 1.523
WI 1.071
Ind 0.900
SL 0.636
Eng 0.604
NZ 0.531
Zim 0.157

You can see why I put SA, Aus, Pak as the top 3 Test nations.

In overall cricket (including ODIs) the reason I say SA drops further behind Pak and Aus is that accross 3 world cups, they had 2 SF and 1 QF appearances. Pak were winners, runner-ups, and had a QF appearance. Aus were winners, runner-ups and did not qualify for knockouts once. Puts Aus at #1 and Pak at #2 for the team of the 1990s for me.

Lol

South Africa beat Pakistan i 15 consecutive ODIs from 1995-99 and had better head to head with other teams than Pakistan as well. But you put Pakistan ahead of South Africa

 

[zulfiqar]

Lol

South Africa beat Pakistan i 15 consecutive ODIs from 1995-99 and had better head to head with other teams than Pakistan as well. But you put Pakistan ahead of South Africa

Right, because in ODIs most would regard the ODI world cup the pinnacle of that format and the standard. Would you rather your team stays ranked #1 in ODIs from 2019 to 2023, or would you rather win the 2023 World Cup? I'm pretty sure the answer to this Q would be overwhelmingly the WC holds more value. Pakistan's W/L throughout 90s in ODIs was 1.4~ to SA's 1.8~. But the WC win + runner-ups puts them ahead of SA in my books. Head-to-head in this situation is completely irrelevant.. Pak played SA 22 times, won 7 and lost 15. If Pak won 1 WC and SA won 0, I would take 0-22 across the decade and still call Pak the overall more successful team in that decade.

And for full info, ODI stats overall in 1990s W/L:
SA 1.803
Aus 1.728
Pak 1.390
WI 1.078
Ind 1.016
SL 0.915
ENG 0.857
NZ 0.695

 

[cricketAXEpert]

They lost 2 Test series to Sri Lanka, and 1 to Zimbabwe at home in the 90's. Add to that got whitewashed in Australia.

That is true. They under achieved massively they could have done better.

However no comparison to both the Windies of the 80s(which was the greatest team of all times). And Australia of late 90s to mid 2000s which was also once in a generation kind of a team as well.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">3 Pakistani cricketers all born <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> <br>1978 - Rana Naved-ul-Hasan <br>1975 - Azhar Mahmood <br>1978 - Yasir Hameed<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/eASQyMPHAu">pic.twitter.com/eASQyMPHAu</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1630561074897465349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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