The current state of Test cricket in Pakistan has made the past look unusually distant. Pakistan have not won a Test match in Australia since 1995, in South Africa since 2007, in New Zealand since 2011 or in England since 2018. Away from home, particularly in the major Test-playing nations, Pakistan have struggled to reproduce the cricket that once made them such an unpredictable and formidable touring side. It was not always this way. For decades, Pakistan were the only country besides England to have won at least one Test in their first-ever series against every opponent they faced: a record that lasted until 1993, when they lost their maiden Test against South Africa. While administrative chaos and ad-hocism, weak institutional pathways, a lack of sponsorship money, a fragile first-class system and low public interest continue to wreak havoc on the Test cricket ecosystem, it's worth taking a dive down history to prove that things were not always this gloomy.

I have compiled a list of the eight greatest Test performances, which will hopefully provide reasons for healthy debate and historical inquiry. Let's begin with Zaheer Abbas's two double centuries in England. He made 274 at Edgbaston in 1971, only in his second Test, before returning three years later to score 240 at The Oval. To score one double century in England was an achievement; to do it twice, in an era of no two-bouncer rule, rudimentary protective gear and 1970s-era delicate bats, demonstrated the extraordinary class and wristwork of Pakistan's greatest batsman of........

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