Pakistan's Test team of the decade (2010-2019)

[Abdullah719]

Best batting averages (minimum 500 runs):

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50
Younis Khan	55	101	12	4839	218	54.37	50.47	18	12
Misbah-ul-Haq	57	101	17	4225	135	50.29	46.15	8	35
Babar Azam	25	47	7	1707	127*	42.67	55.82	4	13
Azhar Ali	77	146	8	5885	302*	42.64	41.82	16	31
Ahmed Shehzad	13	25	1	982	176	40.91	50.98	3	4
Asad Shafiq	73	122	6	4528	137	39.03	48.61	12	26
Mohammad Hafeez	44	84	7	2975	224	38.63	59.14	8	9
Sarfaraz Ahmed	49	86	13	2657	112	36.39	70.98	3	18
Taufeeq Umar	19	37	3	1234	236	36.29	44.48	3	5
Haris Sohail	13	22	1	744	147	35.42	43.35	2	2
Salman Butt	8	16	0	543	102	33.93	51.22	1	3
Sami Aslam	13	25	1	758	91	31.58	39.11	0	7
Shan Masood	19	37	0	1089	135	29.43	45.56	2	6
Khurram Manzoor	10	20	0	568	146	28.40	45.36	1	5
Umar Akmal	12	22	2	546	79*	27.30	65.54	0	2
Adnan Akmal	21	29	5	591	64	24.62	44.07	0	3
Yasir Shah	38	57	6	702	113	13.76	46.55	1	0
Mohammad Amir	29	53	8	598	48	13.28	40.56	0	0

Best bowling averages (pacers with minimum 20 wickets):

Player	Mat	Inns	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
Mohammad Abbas	17	31	72	5/33	10/95	20.90	2.50	50.0	4	1
Mohammad Asif	8	15	33	6/41	8/94	27.36	2.97	55.1	2	0
Mohammad Amir	29	53	101	6/44	7/64	28.51	2.75	62.0	3	0
Hasan Ali	9	17	31	5/45	7/83	28.90	3.09	56.0	1	0
Shaheen Shah Afridi	7	10	25	5/77	6/128	29.88	3.24	55.2	1	0
Imran Khan	10	18	29	5/58	6/128	31.62	3.36	56.4	1	0
Junaid Khan	22	41	71	5/38	8/151	31.73	2.93	64.8	5	0
Aizaz Cheema	7	14	20	4/24	8/103	31.90	3.19	60.0	0	0
Wahab Riaz	27	49	83	5/63	7/134	34.50	3.42	60.4	2	0
Umar Gul	23	45	72	4/61	8/148	34.62	3.30	62.8	0	0
Sohail Khan	8	15	27	5/68	7/207	35.59	3.46	61.7	2	0
Rahat Ali	21	39	58	6/127	7/100	39.03	3.21	72.8	2	0

Best bowling averages (spinners with minimum 20 wickets):

Player	Mat	Inns	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
Saeed Ajmal	30	57	160	7/55	11/111	26.51	2.55	62.3	10	4
Abdur Rehman	20	39	88	6/25	8/92	29.06	2.49	69.7	2	0
Mohammad Hafeez	44	63	49	4/16	4/48	30.38	2.69	67.6	0	0
Yasir Shah	38	71	209	8/41	14/184	30.43	3.18	57.2	16	3
Zulfiqar Babar	15	28	54	5/74	8/233	39.42	2.85	82.9	2	0

 

[Ab Fan]

Mohammad Hafeez
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Younis Khan
Misbah-ul-haq(c)
Asad Shafiq
Sarfaraz Ahmed(wkt)
Mohammad Amir
Yasir Shah/Wahab Riaz
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Abbas

 

[Waleed93]

Azhar Ali : As bad as he is right now, he was once a very good batsman capable of consistent big scores. His peak (2013-2016) saw him hitting several 100s, 200s, and even a 300 when he was our second best batsman after Younis.

Mohammad Hafeez : The fact that he is present in the XI sums up our batting standards. Although a walking wicket in overseas Tests, he remained excellent in Asia, where he piled up runs for fun against any opposition except South Africa.

Younis Khan : A no brainer. Pakistan's greatest ever Test batsman.

Babar Azam : Destined to end up as the GOAT Pakistani batsman across formats. Started poorly in Tests, but his rise has just started, and I back him to end his career with more Test hundreds than Younis.

Misbah-Ul-Haq (C) : Deserves a lot of credit for reviving Pakistan Cricket after what happened in Lahore 2009 and the spot fixing saga of 2010. An excellent batsman and captain in Asia, made the UAE an unbreachable fortress. More than a decent batsman in overseas conditions as well.

Asad Shafiq : Was scoring runs for fun during Younis' era at number 6. Like Azhar, he also deserves to be dropped from today's team, but was very good before Younis and Misbah's retirements, which led him to being exposed under pressure situations.

Sarfraz Ahmed (WK) : Had a purple patch of 2 years (2014-2016) when he was looking like the second coming of Dhoni. He fell apart after his captaincy stint, but the lack of option for the WK role gives him the spot.

Yasir Shah : Started off with a bang after Ajmal's ban. He was our biggest match winner under Misbah's captaincy in the subcontient, even won us a Test series in England.

Saeed Ajmal : The number 1 spinner across formats before getting banned.

Junaid Khan : Did more for the team than Amir. Bowled his heart out in the heat of the UAE whenever selected, a hard worker who never got enough chances.

Mohammad Abbas : Not very quick, but started off extremely well. Still looks unplayable at times, his lack of pace makes him look mediocre quite often too.

 

[Ajjerz]

Hafeez- quality bat in asian conditions and offers a spin bowling option.

Azhar Ali- May have gone off the boil the last couple of seasons but for the best part of the decade was a reliable accumulator with the penchant of scoring big .

Younis Khan- Greatest Pakistani test batsman, enough said.

Barbar Azam- has come into his own in the last 2 years hoping for him to go to the next level over the next 10.

Misbah Ul Haq (C): Garners alot of hate on PP, however was a great leader, not the one we deserved but the one we needed. As stated in the previous post he made the UAE into his fortress whilst also winning away series to Srilanka and the maiden away victory against the windies, not to forget the epic 2-2 series away to a strong england side.

Asad shafiq: much like Azhar he hasnt kicked on since the retirements of MOYO, but he still remains Pakistan's most prolific no.6.

Sarfraz Ahmed (WK): Arguably Pakistan most successful wicket keeper/ batsman. May not have have the strokplay of K.Akmal but played some match winning knocks and was alot safer behind the stumps.

Mohammed Amir: Was the wonder boy for Pak at the start of the decade, even if his return did not live up to expectations. But the fact he is Paks highest pace bowling wicket taker makes him hard to keep of the list

Saeed Ajmal: absolute magician in all parts of the world and single handedly shouldered Pakistans bowling for a number of years. A gutsy batsman who could hang around if needed.

Junaid Khan: Real shame about his knee worked tirelessly on the UAE dustbowls and has 4 5WI to show for it, if he wasnt so injury prone I'm sure he would have gone past Amirs tally.

Mohammed Abbas: was an absolute gem before his shoulder injury, however showed some signs of resurgence in the Srilanka series. However his numbers are too hard to ignore, hopefully can serve Pak well for a few more years.

12thman Yasir Shah- Amazing bowler in Asian conditions and there is a case to put him in place of one of the seamers on a spinning deck, however his form away from home leaves much to be desired and could not overthrow Ajmal from the no.1 spinners position.

 

[MenInG]

1. Azhar Ali
2. M Hafeez
3. Asad Shafiq
4. Younis Khan
5. Misbah
6. Sarfaraz Ahmed
7. Mohammad Abbas
8. Mohammad Amir
9. Saeed Ajmal
10. Yasir Shah
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi

Honorable mention : Sami Aslam!

 

[hadi123]

1. Azhar Ali
2. M Hafeez
3. Asad Shafiq
4. Younis Khan
5. Misbah
6. Sarfaraz Ahmed
7. Mohammad Abbas
8. Mohammad Amir
9. Saeed Ajmal
10. Yasir Shah
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi

Honorable mention : Sami Aslam!

Sami Aslam??? Really?? Based on what?

 

[Barragan]

1. Azhar
2. Hafeez
3. Younis
4. Babar
5. Misbah
6. Sarfaraz
7. Wahab
8. Yasir
9. Amir
10. Ajmal
11. Abbas

 

[Mobashir]

Sad decade for Pakistan cricket, really hard to pick a team of the decade from these players.

 

[coy0607]

Mohammad Hafeez
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Younis Khan
Misbah-ul-haq(c)
Asad Shafiq
Sarfaraz Ahmed(wkt)
Mohammad Amir
Yasir Shah/Wahab Riaz
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Abbas

Pretty much this - expect that Yasir is the clear stand out over Wahab, not sure why that should be an option

Overall a decent team, but not as strong as you would want your team of the decade to be. Definitely weaker than the 90's and 00's teams.

 

[ElRaja]

if you take out younis and misbah, and ignore the fact that abbas and babar only really showed up to the party in the last two years this decade has been miserable for pak.

no surprise this has been the worst decade for pak test cricket since the 70s.

Overall figures
Decade Mat Won Lost Tied Draw W/L
1950s 1 29 8 9 0 12 0.888
1960s 1 30 2 8 0 20 0.250
1970s 1 46 9 11 0 26 0.818
1980s 1 80 23 13 0 44 1.769
1990s 1 76 32 21 0 23 1.523
2000s 1 83 30 31 0 22 0.967
2010s 1 83 33 37 0 13 0.891

 

[Last Monetarist]

Hafeez
Azhar
Younis
Babar
Misbah
Asad
Sarfraz
Yasir
Amir
Abbas
Shaheen

 

[MenInG]

Pains to see Hafeez's name but the fact is that he was doing well for a lot of time in that time period.

 

[ads101]

1. Azhar
2. Hafeez
3. Babar
4. Younis Khan
5. Misbah
6. Asad
7. Sarfraz
8. Yasir
9. Ajmal/Amir
10. Abbas
11. Shaheen

 

[Saj]

Not a great decade really apart from the period of reaching number 1. Other than that we have been languishing in the lower end of the rankings table.

Only a few world-class players worthy of a mention.

 

[Amjid Javed]

When mediocre players like hafeez, azhar, asad and sarfaraz are in decade X1s it shows what a minnow team we have become.

 

[Saj]

In addition this decade should have been the decade of Mohammad Amir.

Unfortunately that did not materialise.

 

[topspin]

Azhar Ali
Taufeeq Umar
Younis Khan (c)
Babar Azam
Haris Sohail
Asad Shafiq
Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
Mohammad Amir
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Abbas
Shaheen Shah Afridi

What I like about this batting line-up, it has more versatile batsmen who can adapt to different conditions.

In the UAE, I'd replace Amir with Abdul Rehman.

 

[topspin]

Azhar Ali
Taufeeq Umar
Younis Khan (c)
Babar Azam
Haris Sohail
Asad Shafiq
Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
Mohammad Amir
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Abbas
Shaheen Shah Afridi

What I like about this batting line-up, it has more versatile batsmen who can adapt to different conditions.

In the UAE, I'd replace Amir with Abdul Rehman.

Honourable mention: Fawad Alam - who unfortunately didn't get to play for Pakistan in the 2010s despite being the most prolific run scorer in domestics, thanks to Misbah.

 

[AFM]

Azhar Ali
Mo Hafeez
Younis Khan
Babar Azam
M Ul-Haq
Asad Shafiq
Sarfraz Ahmad
Yasir Shah
Wahab Riaz
Saeed Ajmal
Mo Abbas

 

[topspin]

Sami Aslam??? Really?? Based on what?

My thoughts exactly.

 

[barah_admi]

This is a tough one as the quality in terms of individuals has been quite low but as a team, Pakistan have had immense highs and some deep lows. However, we should not forget the level of consistency between 2010-12 and then 2014-16, 4 years of exceptional performances where Khan marked himself as the best bat on the planet and Misbah as the best captain.

1. Mohammad Hafeez (was never a bad opener and could provide overs with the ball)
2. Azhar Ali (more of a number three but in for lack of another opener)
3. Younis Khan (spent more time at 4 but is needed at 3 in this case)
4. Misbah ul-Haq c
5. Babar Azam (such a short time but so impressive already)
6. Asad Shafiq
7. Sarfraz Ahmed wk
8. Saeed Ajmal
9. Mohammad Amir
10. Umar Gul
11. Mohammad Abbas

 

[ARK Rafay]

The decade has been so great. Almost everyone has picked the same line up barring 1 player.

 

[shamaan]

Muhammed hafeez 1.
A walking wicket in foreign conditions but was a very good batsman in asian conditions also can bowl 10 decent overs in a day.

Azar ali 2
Although a dip in form but overall a very good batsman who has scored 100s and 200s in his prime second best batsman after younis.

Younis 3
Pakistan greatest batsmen top 10 best conversion rate in world cricket.

Babar 4
Destined to be pakistan greatest player in all formats will have more centuries than younis I think.

Misbah 5
Misbah revived pakistan cricket deserves enormous credit for this.a very good batsman and captain in Asian conditions and decent enough in foreign conditions.

6.asad shafiq
Hasnt kicked on since younis and misbah have left but stil pakistan most prolific batsman at number 6

7.sarfraz
Lack of options


8 ajmal.
Pakistan's magician in all parts of the world in all formats also can hold a bat if needed.

9.yasir shah
Was a excellent bowler in asian conditions under the leadership of misbah.

10 junaid
Bowled his heart out in UAE a very hard worker should have got alot more opportunities but didnt.

11.muhammed abbas
Not quick but started off well with very good accuracy can be very good but also can be very poor lost pace.

 

[Abdullah719]

Picking a 13-man squad to cover different conditions.

Mohammad Hafeez/Taufeeq Umar
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Younis Khan
Misbah-ul-Haq
Asad Shafiq
Sarfaraz Ahmed
Yasir Shah/Mohammad Amir
Wahab Riaz
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Abbas

Didn't consider Asif, Hasan and Shaheen due to very small sample sizes. Pretty weak team.

 

[Slog]

Without looking at stats:

Hafeez
Azhar
Younis Khan
Misbah
Babar
Asad Shafiq
Sarfaraz
Ajmal
Yasir
Wahab
Abbas

 

[MenInG]

My thoughts exactly.

My view was based upon his talent, of course he didn't play enough games but his performance in England in 2016 was great.

That's my view.

 

[topspin]

My view was based upon his talent, of course he didn't play enough games but his performance in England in 2016 was great.

That's my view.

He played very well in Edgbaston on his test debut. There is no doubt about that. However in Australia, I have never in my life seen a Pakistani batsman look more mentally shot, which is one of the reasons why he ended up averaging 12 at a strike rate of 25 against them during that 2016/17 series.

Also, after 13 tests his strike rate is still under 40, which isn't acceptable at this level.

If we look at his game from a technical perspective, he has plenty of work to do in order to curb out the following three weaknesses in his game:

1. Need more shots in armour, especially on the back foot
2. Struggles against the quicker bowlers and on faster wickets, especially when it's pitched short/back of a length to him
3. He's also has deficiencies against spin because he doesn't commit fully forward (or fully backwards), so ends up being trapped in the crease.

There is nothing that I have seen in his game that gives me any confidence to say he will be ready to come back to international cricket anytime soon. In my opinion I don't think he will recover from the 2016/17 Australian tour simply because he appears to be timid and lacks the mental toughness to survive, let alone succeed at international level.

One good test match on a slow and flat Edgbaston wicket isn't enough for me to hold much hope for him in the future.

 

[The_Odd_One]

I think the team picks itself.

1. Hafeez
2. Azhar
3. Younis
4. Babar
5. Misbah
6. Asad
7. Sarfraz
8. Ajmal
9. Yasir
10. Aamir
11. Abbass

12th man:
Junaid

 

[moghul]

Being an old fashioned cricket follower, I care a lot about character and sportsmanship when picking a player . I have a problem with three players and would never pick them up for my team of the decade or any team . Saeed Ajmal was a chucker , a shame for the country , got all his success due to illegal action which was later banned for good . Misbah was a captain who used illegal means to buy some success in UAE, his main weapon was two checkers , the other being Hafeez , who shamelessly keep coming back and banned each time he made a come back as bowler . Shame on the captain , players and the selectors for relying so much on the checkers . No honestly, no cricket and no place in my team of the decade for these three .