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- Published: October 26, 2024 20:10
New Delhi: Pakistan finally completed its draught at home after winning a test series at home for the first time since 2021. It has been a long wait for the Falcons to assert their home dominance. Moreover, the series win against England has given a leap of faith to all the Pakistani players after the thrashing that Pakistan received last time at the hands of Bangladesh.
Two faces Sajid khan & Noman Ali with star impactful performances brought home series win for Pakistan after more than 3 years. More importantly their performances exposed many faces… pic.twitter.com/rioe1uFXnm
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) October 26, 2024
However, former Pakistani player and former Pakistan’s team director and interim coach, Mohammad Hafeez did not mince his words while praising Pakistan’s win. While Hafeez praised the team’s win over England, the former Pakistani international posted a cryptic message on his X (formerly Twitter) account:
Two faces, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, with star impactful performances brought home series win for Pakistan after more than three years. More importantly, their performances exposed many faces…
exposed many faces and the fact that hyping selfish players for stats and PR is wrong, it should only be for their passion for country. pic.twitter.com/1RaoafUNbc
— o/¹⁰ era (@LoyalAfridian10) October 26, 2024
Now, whether the remark made by Hafeez in the light of the fantastic win or as a targeted scrutiny against the backdoor politics of Babar Azam is still unclear. Hafeez had served as Pakistan’s team director and interim coach between November 2023 and February 2024, before he was removed due to Pakistan’s poor results.
Coming to the game, Pakistan bundled England for only 112 on Day 3 of the game. This left the men in green with a target of merely 36 runs! which the Pakistani team chased with the loss of 1 wicket.
Updated WTC table after Pakistan’s win over England
The win takes Pakistan up to seventh spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle table, while England falls to sixth. Here is a look at the updated WTC table:
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | D | Pts | PCT |
| 1 | India | 13 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 98 | 62.82 |
| 2 | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 90 | 62.50 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 60 | 55.56 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 60 | 50.00 |
| 5 | South Africa | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 40 | 47.62 |
| 6 | England | 19 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 93 | 40.79 |
| 7 | Pakistan | 10 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 33.33 |
| 8 | Bangladesh | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 33 | 30.56 |
| 9 | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 18.52 |