Test cricket is rather like the Ranfurly Shield in rugby: your status is not acquired by cheap (e.g. home) victories - someone should tell Australia and India - but rather by going unbeaten for prolonged periods of time.
Perhaps a better comparison is football's World Cup. Lose once and you might still end up as the winners. Lose twice and you're finished.
The benchmark in Asian cricket is Imran Khan's second spell as Pakistan captain, when he was joined in the pace attack by first Wasim Akram, then Aaqib Javed and Waqar Younis, as well as having first Abdul Qadir and then Mushtaq Ahmed.
Imran's first series in charge was in October 1985 at home to Sri Lanka.
His last series was in January 1992 again at home to Sri Lanka.
In those 6 years and 3 months, Pakistan drew 3 series against the GOAT West Indies team and lost a single series, 1-0 in Australia - a series in which they finished 4 wickets short of squaring the series in the drawn Test at Adelaide.
1-0 was Pakistan's one and only Test series defeat between February 1985 and May 1993 - a period of 8 years and 3 months.
Now look where India stands now.
They have been ranked as the Number 1 Test team for some time - primarily due to two factors - a long period of avoiding overseas tours, and the overall historic level of weakness of all Test teams.
But they lost in January 2018 in South Africa (2-1 after they won the dead rubber after losing the series).
And now they have lost 4-1 in England.
4-1 is a crushing margin for any team with pretensions to greatness. Imran's Pakistan lost that single series by a 1-0 margin and drew three series against West Indies teams which were vastly stronger than the 2018 South African and English teams which crushed India.
So the situation for India is now stark.
Having already lost 2 series in 2018, in order to match the 1985-1993 Pakistanis they would have to not lose a single Test series again for the same 8 years and 3 months from the first defeat - i.e. go unbeaten until April 2026.
Can they do it?
And even if they did, can a team which has lost a series 4-1 seriously lay claim to being the Greatest Asian team of All Time?
Mind you, is anyone surprised?
Virat Kohli is probably a decent competitor to Javed Miandad.
But where is India's Imran Khan, Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis? Ishant and Shami are decent bowlers, but they are not Wasim or Waqar!
The gulf in quality is simply vast.
And for India the task is now stark. They cannot claim to be Asia's greatest Test team prior to April 2026 - and they can only get there by remaining unbeaten home or away in Test series until that time.
Perhaps a better comparison is football's World Cup. Lose once and you might still end up as the winners. Lose twice and you're finished.
The benchmark in Asian cricket is Imran Khan's second spell as Pakistan captain, when he was joined in the pace attack by first Wasim Akram, then Aaqib Javed and Waqar Younis, as well as having first Abdul Qadir and then Mushtaq Ahmed.
Imran's first series in charge was in October 1985 at home to Sri Lanka.
His last series was in January 1992 again at home to Sri Lanka.
In those 6 years and 3 months, Pakistan drew 3 series against the GOAT West Indies team and lost a single series, 1-0 in Australia - a series in which they finished 4 wickets short of squaring the series in the drawn Test at Adelaide.
1-0 was Pakistan's one and only Test series defeat between February 1985 and May 1993 - a period of 8 years and 3 months.
Now look where India stands now.
They have been ranked as the Number 1 Test team for some time - primarily due to two factors - a long period of avoiding overseas tours, and the overall historic level of weakness of all Test teams.
But they lost in January 2018 in South Africa (2-1 after they won the dead rubber after losing the series).
And now they have lost 4-1 in England.
4-1 is a crushing margin for any team with pretensions to greatness. Imran's Pakistan lost that single series by a 1-0 margin and drew three series against West Indies teams which were vastly stronger than the 2018 South African and English teams which crushed India.
So the situation for India is now stark.
Having already lost 2 series in 2018, in order to match the 1985-1993 Pakistanis they would have to not lose a single Test series again for the same 8 years and 3 months from the first defeat - i.e. go unbeaten until April 2026.
Can they do it?
And even if they did, can a team which has lost a series 4-1 seriously lay claim to being the Greatest Asian team of All Time?
Mind you, is anyone surprised?
Virat Kohli is probably a decent competitor to Javed Miandad.
But where is India's Imran Khan, Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis? Ishant and Shami are decent bowlers, but they are not Wasim or Waqar!
The gulf in quality is simply vast.
And for India the task is now stark. They cannot claim to be Asia's greatest Test team prior to April 2026 - and they can only get there by remaining unbeaten home or away in Test series until that time.
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and then got beaten 2-0 at home. Most undeserving number 1 side. 
Thanks for the laugh.
