Pakistan versus West Indies: The greatest Test rivalry no one talks about

“Why did he do that?”

If you remember the moment, you probably read the above question in Fazeer Mohammed’s voice. The entire ten-second sequence probably played out in front of your eyes.

The series is levelled 1-1. This is the decider. The West Indies cannot win the Test but they can save it, which will be enough to deny Pakistan a maiden series win in these lands. Roston Chase has looked unflappable, but he is at the other end. Seven balls remain. All Shannon Gabriel needs is to keep out this one. The Laws of Cricket will then bring Chase back on strike.

West Indian fast bowlers have been there, done that before against Pakistan. Bridgetown 1976/77. Bridgetown 1988. St John’s 2000. Add the 1975 World Cup league game for impact. They will do it again at Kingston in 2021. This is not any of these. This is a matter of one ball.

Yet, Gabriel does not make the slightest attempt to keep out the ball – from Yasir Shah, no less. Instead, he aims for the mountains somewhere beyond the mid-wicket fence … and misses. As ball hits timber, the anguish in Fazeer’s voice is palpable. Pakistan celebrate their historic win. In these pages, Phil Walker rates it the worst shot in cricket history.

Nine years later, you may seek legitimate cricketing answers to Fazeer’s question. Gabriel might have felt that there was merit in trying to keep the ball as far away from the prowling phalanx of fielders around his bat.

Or you may just accept that nothing is improbable in Pakistan-West Indies Test cricket, a rivalry that began in 1957/58 with a world record: it remains the only Test series to feature two triple hundreds. And while Hanif Mohammad’s is the longest Test innings, Garry Sobers’ is the highest maiden century.

Was always going to be a tough ask following yesterday’s tweet, but here we go.

You’re welcome. Part two. pic.twitter.com/ywNs506jyq

— The Googly Cricket (@officialgoogly) May 4, 2020

A bit of history

The last time the West Indies and Pakistan drew a Test was back in the third week of November 2006. Since then, they are the only pair to have played 15 Tests without drawing a single one. There have been four longer streaks without a draw, but none of them had started in the 21st century.

It has not been a one-sided contest either: both sides have won at least one Test in every bilateral series – and that includes four two-match Test series. There has been no one-sided sweep.

The ongoing streak – three consecutive 1-1s – is a throwback to a golden era for both sides, when the West Indies were the greatest side in the world and Pakistan their fiercest challengers. Between 1986/87 and 1990/91, they drew three three-Test series on the trot. These three drawn Tests were all extremely close affairs that might have gone either way. Seldom has a Test cricket rivalry peaked to the extent of West Indies-Pakistan over this period.

That sequence was followed by four series where each side won at home. By then, the legendary fast bowlers were either gone or were on their way out. Of course, both sides had formidable batters who would accumulate mountains of runs, but it was not the same. The closest of these was in 2000 when, after two draws, Courtney Walsh hung around with Jimmy Adams to seal a last-wicket win.

It was around this period, the mid-2000s, that the two teams played five Tests, four of which were one-sided and the other a draw. The intensity seemed to have worn off.

By the time they met again, in 2011, a lot had transpired.

Transition and beyond

Pakistan cricket had already been jolted by the 2009 terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus. The incident forced international cricket out of the country for nearly a decade. Another blow came in 2010, when three cricketers were accused of spot-fixing.

The latter incident forced Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, men who were expected to spearhead the attack in the 2010s, out of contention. It could not have come at a worse time: Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan’s last 200-wicket fast bowler, was done with Test cricket. That, combined with the conditions in the UAE, forced Pakistan to switch to a spin-heavy attack.

The West Indies had problems of their own. Allen Stanford’s 20/20, followed by the explosion of franchise leagues around the world, promised enough cash to lure some of their biggest stars towards T20. The many disputes with the board did not help. The West Indies built T20’s first truly great international side, but that boom came at the cost of Test cricket.

Few things test leadership more than transition phases like these. The two new captains led the quiet recoveries in their respective ways, and found success. If Misbah-ul-Haq’s 26 Test wins are a Pakistan record, Daren Sammy is the only male captain to win the T20 World Cup twice. Another format, yes, but it was the only format where their big shots assembled.

The 2011 Test in Providence was, thus, a clash between depleted XIs, but that did not prevent it from being a classic. The West Indies made only 226 but got a 66-run lead, and the drama had only started. After Saeed Ajmal (6-42) bowled the hosts out for 152, Pakistan became 2-3 before recovering to 135-4. Then they collapsed for 178 against Sammy (5-29). They won the second Test to square the series. Yet another 1-1.

The 2016 series in the UAE began with Azhar Ali becoming the first batter to score a triple ton in a day-night Test. A 222-run first-innings lead is usually decisive, but collapses have been a salient feature of modern-era Pakistan-West Indies Tests. From 77-2, Pakistan were bowled out for 123 as Devendra Bishoo claimed 8-49. The door now ajar, the West Indies reached 263-6 in pursuit of 346, but faltered in the end.

Pakistan had another collapse in the dead-rubber third Test (175-5 to 208; Jason Holder 5-30), but the game belonged to Kraigg Brathwaite. He carried his bat with 142 not out and, chasing 153, remained unbeaten on 60. In all, he batted for 11 and a half hours and lost 15 partners at the other end. It was a year for the Brathwaites.

When Pakistan travelled to the Caribbean six months later, it was for #MisYou, the farewell of Misbah and Younis Khan. This time the West Indies collapsed to 152 (Yasir 6-63) and lost the first Test. In the second, Pakistan collapsed twice. First, from 155-0 and then 259-3 to 393. And then, defending 188, Gabriel (5-11) bowled them out for 87. One ugly shot, of course, erased Gabriel’s heroics from mainstream memory.

Four years later, the two teams again started a series with a classic, at Kingston. The West Indies needed 17 when the ninth wicket fell. Kemar Roach, the veteran, and Jayden Seales, the youngster, had already shared 13 wickets in the Test: they now got their side over the line with the bat.

Play: Quiz! Can you name the last-wicket stands that won Test matches?

Shaheen Shah Afridi’s eight wickets went in vain, so he topped that to get 10-94, the best match figures by a Pakistani fast bowler since 2006, to square the series. The game was far from uneventful, of course. Pakistan had become 2-3 (if that seems familiar, scroll up) in the first innings – though this time they converted it to a win.

The 2024/25 series, played on rank turners, was decided significantly by the toss, spin bowling, collapses (but of course), and – somewhat unexpectedly for these contests – tail-end batting. At the end of this 1-1, Jomel Warrican finished with most wickets, best bowling average, and best batting average. He also became part of the first and second instances of nine, ten, and jack emerging as the highest scorers in a Test innings.

And of course, there was 2026, of Justin Greaves’ unprecedented five consecutive wicket-maidens, Shan Masood’s hundred and injury, Mohammad Abbas’ eight wickets and axing, Abdullah Shafique being at the right place and right time for yet another big hundred, Babar Azam’s return with bat and blazer, and – predictably – the familiarity of that 1-1.

The West Indies had finished eighth out of nine teams in all three editions of the World Test Championship. Pakistan went from sixth to eighth to ninth. They have seldom had a shot at a place in the final. Even in the 2025-2027 cycle, they occupy the bottom two places.

The rivalry is not quite the top-of-chart fixture from four decades ago, but the declines of the two teams have coincided. When they meet, even in 2026, there is never shortage of drama or records. Or collapses. Or 1-1s.

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