There was a time, as recently as in the late 1990s, when Pakistan were the best cricket side in Asia. As the sport migrated to the new millennium, they still held a slight upper hand against India and dominated Sri Lanka, while Bangladesh were too raw to compete.

Of course, the Asia Cup remained their bogey. They won it in 2000, but they have replicated that only once more, in 2012 – not a count befitting of their stature, especially when pitted against India’s seven or Sri Lanka’s five. Not coincidentally, their two Asia Cup titles came in the years immediately after their only World Cup semi-final appearances since 1992.

But Pakistan were there. They troubled India every now and then until the old rivals broke away. Of course, there has been no Test cricket since 2007/08, but since January 1, 2010, the equation reads 12-4 in India’s favour in ODIs. Pakistan fans will point out that one of the wins came in the 2017 Champions Trophy, to which Indian fans will respond with their team’s eight-match undefeated run at the World Cup.

And in T20Is, India lead 10-3 (counting the one decided by bowl-out). At global events, every Indian defeat – even in the final – leads to outrage from partisan fans. In contrast, Pakistan have had only one appearance in the World Cup knockouts in the 21st century, and have never come remotely close to qualifying for a World Test Championship final.

The frenzy around India-Pakistan matches is still intense enough to bring both nations to a halt, but they ceased being even contests some time ago.

But Pakistan held the upper hand over the other Asian nations for some time. Sri Lanka’s run after the 1996 World Cup came down with a crash at the 1999 edition, but they turned things around in remarkable fashion, reaching four global tournament finals between 2007 and 2014, culminating in a triumphant T20 World Cup campaign. Their form dipped as their giants left the stage one by one, but a resurgent side made it to consecutive Asia Cup finals, in 2022 and 2023, winning the first of these.

In Test cricket, Sri Lanka drew a series in England in 2006 and won in 2014. And in 2017/18, they became the first touring side (since the 2009 attacks) to win a Test series against Pakistan in the UAE. In 2018/19, they became the first – and till date, only – Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa. And in 2024, they won a Test match at The Oval.

Contrast this with Pakistan’s fortunes. Since their 1-1 draw in England in 2018, they have not won a single Test match outside Asia, the West Indies, Zimbabwe, or Ireland. They have won series in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but since Test cricket returned to Pakistan, their record at home has been abysmal. In their last 10 home Test matches, they have lost six and drawn four.

Two of these defeats came last month, against Bangladesh – a team that also drew 1-1 in New Zealand in 2021/22. Unlike Pakistan, Bangladesh have drawn their last Test series against England and Australia; and won an ODI series in South Africa in 2022/23. Bangladesh have not taken the cricketing world by storm yet, but in stark contrast with the declining Pakistan side, they have been improving. 

That brings us to the newest of the Full Members. Unlike Sri Lanka, Afghanistan qualified directly for the 2023 World Cup, where they beat Pakistan and Sri Lanka (and England) comfortably, and nearly stunned Australia. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, they defeated New Zealand and Australia with ridiculous ease before pipping Bangladesh to storm into the semi-final. Recently, they beat South Africa for the first time – a remarkable feat for a side that only got Full Membership in 2017 and is unlikely to play at home in near future.

India are the strongest Asian side by some distance, and have been flirting with the top spot in the world for some time. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can look back at their triumphs over the past few years with some optimism. The ascent of Afghanistan – only the men’s team, it needs to be reminded – seems an eternal fairytale.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have little to fall back upon from their recent past. It might sound sacrilegious, but they are probably not in the top four among the Asian cricket teams.

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