It’s for sure that Pakistan cricket is jinxed nowadays, as it has been going through a disappointing low over the last two years. Recently, the Pakistan cricket team suffered a 2-0 whitewash at home against Bangladesh in a 2-match test series. Bangladesh completed the clean sweep by defeating Pakistan by six wickets in the second Test at Rawalpindi on Tuesday. Bangladesh also get their first-ever Test win against Pakistan after winning the first game by ten wickets.
The consequences of humiliation from Bangladesh’s hands now can be seen in ICC test rankings, which show that the Pakistan test team has hit the bottom. Pakistan faced a historic drop in ICC test rankings for the first time in 59 years, as they are now ranked 8th in ICC test rankings. Since 1965, this is the lowest ranking for the “Men in Green” in Test cricket.
Following a shocking series loss to Bangladesh at home, Pakistan fell two spots to take eighth place in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings. Before this series, the hosts were ranked sixth in the rankings, but after two straight losses, they fell to eighth place with 76 rating points, below the West Indies. This is the lowest ranking Pakistan has had in the Test rankings table since 1965.
While the Pakistani team was humiliated by Bangladesh, Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood also registered an embarrassing and unwanted record in tests. Masood has now become Pakistan’s first test skipper to lose his first five Tests as captain. He was selected Pakistan’s Test captain in November of last year after Babar Azam stepped down. Masood broke Javed Burki’s record of losing his first three Tests as Pakistan’s captain.
Pakistan is the worst test team right now that has ever won an ICC trophy; only Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan ranked below Pakistan in ICC test rankings. There are now no Pakistan bowlers in the top ten in the latest ICC test rankings after left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi dropped to the 11th spot from the ninth before the Bangladesh series.
Mohammad Rizwan is the only Pakistani staying in the top ten batting rankings, with Babar Azam dropping three places to 12th. This is the first time in the last five years that Babar Azam was out of the top 10 positions in the ICC rankings.
