The Pakistan National Cricket Team is an International cricket team representing Pakistan. It is administrated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Pakistan is a member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status.

Pakistan are the ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 champions, ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup champions twice in 2004 and in 2006 making them the first and the only team to become back to back champions in the Under 19 Cricket World Cup tournaments and they are also the current ICC World Twenty20 2009 champions. Pakistan have been semi finalist 3 times in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000, 2004 and 2009.

Before the independence of Pakistan, cricket was played before the first Pakistan national team was granted test match playing status. Documentation and archives show that during the 18th century, cricket was played on the western side of India and many successful Indian cricketers played for the English cricket team. It was not until July 28, 1952 that Pakistan started playing test match cricket. Their first match took place in Delhi against India on October of the same year. Their first international tour was to England during 1954. Over the half century, Pakistan has become one of the most challenging and unpredictable teams in the world, the team won the 1992 World Cup and were runners up in the 1999 World Cup. The country has produced several world-class players such as Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Mushtaq Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar.

As of October 2007, the Pakistani team has played 332 Test matches, winning 30.29%, losing 26.76% and drawing 42.94% of its games. The team is ranked sixth in the ICC Test Championship and fourth place in the ICC ODI Championship. On August 28, 2006, Pakistan won its debut Twenty20 International match in England and were runners up in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in September 2007. They are the current ICC World Twenty20 champions, beating Sri Lanka on 21 June 2009 by eight wickets.



Following the Partition of India in 1947, and the establishment of the separate nation state of Pakistan, cricket in the country developed steadily and Pakistan was given Test Match status at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 28, 1952 following recommendation by India, which, being the successor state of the British Raj, did not have to go through such a process. The first captain of the Pakistan national cricket team was Abdul Kardar
Pakistan’s first Test match was played in Delhi in October 1952 as part of a five Test series which India won 2-1. Pakistan made their first tour of England in 1954 and drew the series 1-1 after a memorable victory at The Oval in which fast bowler Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets. Pakistan’s first home Test match was in Dacca in January 1955 against India, after which four more Test matches were played in Bahawalpur, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi (all five matches in the series were drawn, the first such occurrence in test history^.
The team is considered a strong but unpredictable team. Traditionally Pakistani cricket has been filled with players of great talent but limited discipline, making them a team which could play inspirational cricket one day and then perform less than ordinarily another day. Over the years, competitions between India and Pakistan have always been emotionally charged and provide for intriguing contests, as talented teams from both sides of the border elevate their game to new levels to produce high-quality cricket. Pakistani contest with India in the Cricket World Cup have seen packed stadiums and elevated atmospheres no matter where the World Cup has been held.