Is Pakistan national cricket team are probable candidate of winning the World Test Championship?

The Pakistan national team is gearing up for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy and the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), with the Champions Trophy hosted by them in February-March 2024. Before these crucial events, Pakistan will play several Test series against Bangladesh and South Africa. So, the question arises whether the 1996 World Champions could be a probable candidate for winning the ICC World Test Championship? Although Pakistan's current form suggests it might be challenging, it's important to remember that this is the same team that defeated India in the last ICC Champions Trophy to win the tournament. This article will shed light on the Pakistan national team's performance in the long format of the game.

The Pakistan national team is considered one of the strongest teams in Asia after Men in Blue (India). Pakistan won their first 50-over World Cup by defeating England in Melbourne under the captaincy of former cricketer Imran Khan. They have also reached the Semi-finals 4 times and been runners-up once in the World Cup. In addition, Pakistan has won one T20 World Cup and one Champions Trophy. Despite success in other ICC events, Pakistan has yet to win the ICC World Test Championship, which began in 2019 as an international championship for Test cricket, often referred to as the Test World Cup.

In the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship (2019-2021), Pakistan finished 6th. In the next edition (2021-2023), they finished 7th. Currently, in the third edition of the World Test Championship, which will conclude in 2025 at Lord’s, Pakistan is ranked 5th with 36.66 percentage points from 5 matches played in this edition.

Their performance in long-form cricket has been satisfactory. After losing a 3-match Test series against England last year, Pakistan managed to draw and win Test series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, which briefly placed them at the top of the points table with 24 points and a point percentage of 100%.  However, in the series against Australia, they faced a daunting defeat after losing the 3-match Test series. As the WTC cycle progresses, Pakistan will host Bangladesh for 2 Tests and England for 3 Tests before touring South Africa for a 2-Test series.

Additionally, they will host the West Indies for 2 Tests before the start of the WTC finals. Given their upcoming fixtures, Pakistan still has a chance to reach the top of the table if they win their series by a big margin and the top 4 teams falter in their respective series. India, for example, will be playing 3 back-to-back series against Bangladesh and New Zealand before leaving for the Border Gavaskar Trophy against South Africa. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will face England for 3 Tests before participating in the Ashes.

The first series for Pakistan after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 will be against Bangladesh from August 23rd to September 3rd, 2024.

Let’s look at the Pakistan squad for the series against Bangladesh:

Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Shaheen Shah Afridi

The first Test between these teams will be played on August 21 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. The second Test match will be held in Karachi.