Pakistan Deserve Being Seen as Great in Their UAE Fortress

Another day, another Test victory for Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan romped to a 248-run win over New Zealand in the first of three Tests in Abu Dhabi on Thursday as they completed yet another impressive victory on their adopted home turf.

The win comes on the back of a 2-0 Test series win over Australia, and it’s about time the cricketing world start hailing Pakistan as one of the modern-day greats.

Pakistan have quietly surged to No. 3 in the Test rankings, despite the fact that they have not played cricket at home in over four years.

Since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009 forced them to play their games in the UAE, Pakistan have been a force to be reckoned with.

They are currently the only team to remain unbeaten at home for the last five years. While that is a great feat in itself, what makes it even greater is that the UAE isn’t even really Pakistan’s “home.”

Their players do not have the luxury of playing their domestic cricket in the UAE, yet those who have progressed to international cricket have made a seemingly easy transition.

Against Australia, Imran Khan and Yasir Shah made their debuts, and only Khan had played in the warm-up match. Both have settled into the team without any trouble and both played an important role against New Zealand.

While debutants adapt easily, old hands continue to prosper, too.

Misbah-ul-Haq has become Pakistan's most successful Test captain with 15 wins under his belt. The previous record of 14 wins was held by Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, but both players captained the team more times than Misbah.

Pakistan are currently on a hot streak, and if they win the next Test against New Zealand, it will be the first time since 1990 that they have won four Tests in a row without the sequence including Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.

All of this is happening at an adopted home. All of it is quite extraordinary.

Pakistan have really made the UAE their fortress. Out of the 16 Tests they have played there, they have won nine and lost just two.

Just two teams—Sri Lanka and South Africa—have managed to win a Test in the UAE during that time. Their win/loss ratio at home (or, in Pakistan's case, the UAE) is only bettered by India's over the last five years. 

It’s about time Pakistan were thought of as one of the great Test teams. Their feats go beyond simply having an impressive home record.

Players have spoken about how much they miss playing in Pakistan. Younis Khan, who has scored 136, 13, 17, 177, 13, 106, 213, 100 not out in his last eight Test innings, was quoted by NDTV as saying he longs to play in front of a Pakistan crowd.

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It would have been fantastic had all this happened in Pakistan before my own people. It's always a good feeling playing before your home crowd as I did in 2004 against India, then in the next two years so I wish it could happen again in Pakistan before my own people.

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It certainly would have been special, and while nobody knows when international cricket will return to Pakistan, the players deserve all the credit in the world for what they have managed to achieve in the UAE.

All stats via ESPNCricinfo, unless otherwise stated.