Beyond the Boundary

Many thanks to @sweep_shot for his excellent article on why Bangladesh's upcoming tour of Pakistan and the T20I Series, in particular, could help in building bridges between cricket boards of both nations.

Pakistan's 1-0 victory in the historic home-series against Sri Lanka may well have given some breathing room to Azhar Ali and provided relief to a nation grown accustomed to disappointments in Tests in the recent past.

The first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi may well have ended in a draw but the significance of the first Test on home soil in a decade cannot be overemphasized.

The eminently forgettable Australian tour for Pakistan cricket team ended with it dropping to the lowly number 8 position in the ICC Test rankings. Pakistan's current Test ranking sheds light on not only the recently concluded series against Australia but is also based on the last 2 years where Pakistan was only one series win where they beat Australia in UAE by a 1-0 margin.

Captains such as Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq have all tasted defeat in Australia. Losing in Australia has become part of the Pakistani cricketing tradition, with every touring party finding new ways of imploding spectacularly. However, the latest debacle ranks as arguably the worst Pakistani performance in a Test series in Australia, and that's saying something...

A lot is written and said about Misbah's legacy and what it means for Pakistan cricket in the long-term. In my opinion, the most dangerous precedence that Misbah has set with his own example is the notion that age does not matter.

The last time a team had breached the Australian fortress at Brisbane?it was 1988 and the likes of Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Malcolm Marshall had run through the Australian batting line-up?decimating them to a meagre 167 all out in the first innings. The West Indies eventually won that Test match by nine wickets.

Thanks to @Titan24 for this write-up previewing the first Test series with Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali at the helm.

Comprehensive write-up by @Markhor reviewing Pakistan's failed bid at challenging Australia in the recently concluded T20I series.

Thanks to Markhor for this review of the tournament!