Why Pakistan keep losing Test matches: Inside their WTC cycle collapse

In the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle, Pakistan are currently with the wooden spoon after the end of their first two Tests of the three-match series against England, and are expected to hold the bottom position of the table, irrespective of their result in the third fixture at Edgbaston in Birmingham, having already lost the first two games at Headingley and Lord’s.

In the WTC 2025-27 cycle, they have featured in seven Tests and gained only two victories, losing five. Shockingly, since June 2018, Pakistan have not won a single Test in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia). They played 18 Tests and lost 16, with the two draws coming against England in Southampton in 2020. 

If one thinks it’s the state of the side in only the longest format, then they have no idea of their white-ball team’s situation. Pakistan have not made it to any major finals in the ODI format since winning the Champions Trophy in 2017.

Pakistan's WTC points table struggles — A cycle-by-cycle breakdown

In the very first WTC 2019-21 cycle, Pakistan finished in fifth position in the table with four wins and five losses in 12 matches, out of which their wins came against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, at home. It was followed by their seventh-place finish in the WTC 2021/23 cycle when they collected only four wins in 14 clashes.

The best chance for the side to make it into the top two, or at least top two, was in WTC 2023/25 when they played their favourable opponents at home. Despite that advantage, they ended up getting only four wins in 12 clashes at a PCT of 31.25 and finished in seventh position in the table.  

In the current WTC 2025/27 cycle, Pakistan have bagged only two wins in eight clashes and are at the bottom of the table with a PCT of 16.67. Their victories came only against the Proteas at home and the West Indies in the Caribbean. The sorry state is that all of their wins had a margin of 90 runs, apart from the 78-run defeat against Bangladesh in May this year in Sylhet.

See Also: WTC points updated table 2025-27: Updated standings & final race

Along with this Test performance, they didn’t make the finals of the Asia Cup 2018 and 2023 in the 50-over format, while they failed to reach the semifinals of the two ODI World Cups in 2019 and 2023.

Meanwhile, in the T20Is, they haven’t done a superb job either. After reaching the semifinal of the 2021 T20 WC and ending as the runners-up of the 2022 T20 WC, they were out of the 2024 and 2026 T20 WCs from the league stage and Super 8, respectively.

Why Pakistan's top order keeps collapsing across every WTC cycle

For any Test team to do well, irrespective of whether it's at home or in away conditions, they need their top-order batters to perform at the big stage. Moreover, they also need different players to step up in crucial situations when they would be under pressure, but that hasn’t been the case for Pakistan at all.

Since the beginning of 2019, Babar Azam is their leading run-getter in the longest format with 3597 runs in 84 innings at an average of 46.11, thanks to eight centuries and 23 fifties at the best score of 196 runs. The next best belongs to Mohammad Rizwan, who averages only 38.12 for his 2669 runs in 78 innings, thanks to his three centuries and 14 fifties. 

See Also: Babar Azam's net worth 2026: Inside his ₹50 Crore empire, salary, endorsements & luxury lifestyle

Out of the four WTC cycles, Babar is the leading run-getter for Pakistan in three cycles, which shows how much the team depends on their captain in this aspect. Once his form dropped, the others fell like a pack of cards. Despite making 453 runs in the WTC 2025/27, he hasn’t made a century yet in this period.

Top 3 run-getters for Pakistan of WTC 2019-2021-

Top 3 run-getters for Pakistan of WTC 2021-2023- 

Top 3 run-getters for Pakistan of WTC 2023-2025-

Top 3 run-getters for Pakistan of WTC 2025-27 (till September 08, 2026)-

Where Pakistan's attack has fallen short in the WTC era

Since the beginning of 2019, Shaheen Afridi remains Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker with 118 scalps in 54 innings at an average of 27.88 with four five-wicket hauls, while Noman Ali sits at the second position with 101 wickets in 42 innings at an average of just 25.08.

Afridi was the leading wicket-taker in the WTC 2019-21 with 36 wickets in 12 innings but had a poor average of nearly 33, while Yasir Shah, despite taking 32 wickets, experienced an average of more than 44. In the WTC 2021/23 cycle, Afridi was excellent at an average of 18.19 with his 41 wickets.

Noman, during the WTC 2023/25 cycle, was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker with 46 wickets in 12 innings at an average of 14.76, thanks to his five five-wicket hauls, but one can’t forget that Pakistan made a 10-day surface for winning at home, which eventually helped the spinners with the ball.

See Also: Names of Pakistan bowlers on the Lord's honours board in Tests

In the ongoing WTC 2025/27 cycle, Mohammad Abbas is their leading wicket-taker so far with 28 wickets in nine innings at 18.96. However, the biggest issue for them is their one-dimensional bowling attack, which is more about medium pace, something which Pakistan is not renowned for.

They have lacked pacers who could run in and bowl aggressively to the batters and trouble them. Pace also becomes a key factor in getting the reverse swing in play. And Pakistan, despite being the land of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Imran Khan, and others, haven’t found their new talent. 

Top 3 wicket-takers for Pakistan of WTC 2019-21

Top 3 wicket-takers for Pakistan of WTC 2021-23

Top 3 wicket-takers for Pakistan of WTC 2023-25

Top 3 wicket-takers for Pakistan of WTC 2025-27 (till September 08, 2026)-

Can Pakistan turn their Test fortunes around before the WTC 2025-27 ends?

The Pakistan players, hanging around in London, two days after their 194-run defeat at Lord’s, had no idea that the PCB had put out a statement about sending seven new players for their third game at Edgbaston and bringing a couple of players back home.

Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Ali Agha, who captained them during the defeat at Leeds, Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Zafar are the seven who vanished. The board also called their white-ball coach, Mike Hesson, to take over as the Test coach for the third Test.

They have put a show-cause notice on Sarfaraz Ahmed and selector Misbah-ul-Haq to get them informed about the reason for picking Agha and Rizwan for their England and West Indies tour. That happened just a couple of hours after Misbah stepped down from his position.

Now, the question remains: can the Pakistan side turn back from this position? It can’t actually go down from this end, or they could challenge the world to get worse from this. They need to get the administration in the right place, find some young blood inside the team, and give them the trust and faith for the future.

Saud Shakeel was excellent in the second innings of the Lord’s Test for his fine knock of 97 runs, and it would be important for the other players to look at his tempo and the type of shots he played under pressure in that game. That’s how they would learn.

See Also: Misbah-ul-Haq resigns from PCB selection committee after Pakistan's Test squad change ahead of 3rd Test against England

Abbas has been fantastic, but they would need some extra pace on the side for the dry surfaces. They can’t go one-dimensional every time. However, their biggest issue has been their batting department, which failed to cross 200 in all four innings of the series so far.

So, can Pakistan cricket make a comeback in international cricket, especially the Test format? The road won’t be easy, and they will have to make some tough decisions to at least take the right path to success.