Pakistan’s red-ball performances were completely in contrast to their white-ball performances in 2022. While Pakistan brought much joy to their fans in limited-overs cricket, its below-par performances in the longest format of the game left the fans disappointed.
The Men in Green’s historic Test calendar included a home Test series against Australia, England, and the ongoing series against New Zealand while they also toured Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series.
Apart from the ongoing 1st Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand at Karachi, Pakistan played a total of nine Test matches across the calendar year. Out of these, Pakistan only registered a solitary win, while they suffered five losses and two matches ended in a draw.
Let’s have a look at Pakistan’s Test performances over the past year:
Australia Tour of Pakistan
Pakistan started 2022 with a historic series against Australia. The Kangaroos traveled to Pakistan for the first time since 1998 to play a three-match Test series.
The excitement around the historic Test series died down on the first day of the first Test match at Rawalpindi due to the flatness of the pitch. The Test, unsurprisingly, ended in a draw as both the teams made full use of a belter of a pitch.
The second Test match at Karachi was also a similar affair as it was another flat pitch. However, the pitch turned a bit tricky at the end of the fourth day as Pakistan looked set to chase down a monumental target of 506. Pakistan’s captain, Babar Azam played an innings of a lifetime as he scored 196 to help Pakistan secure a draw on the final day of the match.
With the series heading towards a dull draw, the two teams headed to Lahore to play the final match of the series. This time the pitch offered much more assistance to the pace bowlers, an advantage that was fully utilized by the Australian bowlers. Chasing a target of 351 in the final innings, Pakistan faltered to muster only 235 as Australia won the match by 115 runs and won the three-match series 1-0.
Here is the breakdown of the series:
| Fixture | Venue | Result |
| 1st Test | Rawalpindi | Draw |
| 2nd Test | Karachi | Draw |
| 3rd Test | Lahore | Australia won by 115 runs |
Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka
After a disappointing home series loss, The Green Shirts traveled to Sri Lanka to play a two-match Test series as both sides looked to climb up the World Test Championship points table.
The Shaheens took control of the series in the first Test match as chased a mammoth target of 342 on a tricky pitch in Galle. The Men in Green were sensational in the fourth innings as young opener, Abdullah Shafique, steered a masterful run chase with a brilliant century. He was ably supported by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan secured a 4-wicket win.
Pakistan looked set to register a historic Test series victory but Sri Lanka had other ideas as they roared back to win the second Test match. Pakistan failed to trouble Sri Lanka throughout the Test match as they were unable to chase down a monumental target of 508 runs. Sri Lanka won the match by 246 runs as Pakistani batters were bundled out for 261 in the final innings.
Here is the breakdown of the series:
| Fixture | Venue | Result |
| 1st Test | Galle | Pakistan won by 4 wickets |
| 2nd Test | Galle | Sri Lanka won by 246 runs |
England Tour of Pakistan
After Australia’s historic tour of Pakistan, it was England’s turn to tour the country. The Three Lions had already toured for a seven-match T20I tour earlier in the year, but this was their first Test tour since 2005.
The three-match Test series got off to a similar start as the Australian series. The Rawalpindi pitch once again failed to offer anything to the bowlers as England took charge of the match. England’s new-found philosophy of ‘Bazball’ completely blew away the Men in Green as they got beaten badly. With a brave declaration by Ben Stokes, Pakistan struggled as they were bundled out for 268 while chasing a target of 343.
The second match of the series was played in Multan and once again England dominated the match as they took the attack to a fragile Pakistani bowling unit. Pakistan did put up a fightback in the final innings of the match while chasing 355 but ultimately fell short by 26 runs as England gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
With England looking for a historic whitewash and Pakistan looking to save face, the teams headed to Karachi for the third Test match. Once again Pakistan had no answer as they were absolutely outplayed by the Ben Stokes-led side. England chased down the target of 167 with the loss of only 2 wickets. The Three Lions completed a sensational 3-0 whitewash against a clueless Babar XI.
Here is the breakdown of the series:
| Fixture | Venue | Result |
| 1st Test | Rawalpindi | England won by 74 runs |
| 2nd Test | Multan | England won by 26 runs |
| 3rd Test | Karachi | England won by 8 wickets |
Here is Pakistan’s overall Test record in 2022:
| Total Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws |
| 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Here is the breakdown against each opposition:
| Opposition | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| England | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 1* | – | – | – |
*Pakistan vs New Zealand match in progress
