10 Pakistani batsmen who have always played well against India

Runs against any opposition are to be coveted when it comes to international cricket but when they come against one's arch-rivals, then they have a deeper meaning. Considering the pressure of an India-Pakistan game, runs scored against the old enemy are almost always of vital importance. In that regard, plenty of Pakistani batsmen have proven to be the thorn in the flesh of Indian bowlers across formats throughout their careers.

Some Pakistani batsmen have made a name for themselves by almost always scoring runs against India and needless to say, they have become legends in their own right. Here is a look at 10 batsmen who have had successful outings against India almost every time they have batted against their arch-rivals.

#10 Salman Butt

Pakistan's disgraced former captain Salman Butt might belong to the dustbin of his nation's cricketing history but there is no denying the fact that when it came to scoring runs against India, there were very few who were as prolific as him. The former opening batsman announced himself on the international stage by scoring a superb 108 against India at the Eden Gardens back in 2004 to win a game that looked lost.

Over the next six years, he scored four more ODI hundreds against India and five half-centuries, of which three were scored in Tests. Across formats, he averages 40.48 against India and even in the game that proved to be his last, he scored 74 in an ODI at Dambulla. Butt was run out when he was looking good for his 6th century against the Men in Blue.

#9 Nasir Jamshed

Nasir Jamshed

If a player's record against India was a criterion for selection, then Nasir Jamshed would still have been a regular for Pakistan. In his very first outing against India in an ODI in Karachi, he slammed 53 not out off 43 balls before retiring hurt. That was an indication of things to come.

In total, he played nine times against India and scored three centuries along with 1 fifty, with his highest score being the 112 he scored in an ODI in Dhaka in 2013. He was not as successful in T20Is though. Jamshed has a highly impressive average of 65.00 against India in limited overs cricket and a strike rate of 87.66.

In ODIs, he averaged 102 against India in six matches, where he scored three centuries and one fifty. His career ODI average is 31.51

#8 Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has been incredibly consistent against India over the past decade or so. He almost always seems to come good when he takes guard against his arch-rivals. He has played only three Tests against India but in ODIs, he has been an absolute colossus, having scored four centuries and as many as 12 half-centuries, including two nineties, across 39 games.

Malik has an average of 42.53 across the three formats against India. One of his most memorable innings was the 128 he scored in the ICC Champions Trophy at Centurion in 2009, helping Pakistan put one over their rivals in an ICC tournament.

#7 Mudassar Nazar

Mudassar Nazar

Former opening batsman Mudassar Nazar, who played 38 times against India in Tests and ODIs over the course of a decade, did not taste great success initially, managing only one century (in his 6th innings) and a half-century in his first 18 innings.

However, during the 1982-83 series in Pakistan, he became India's nemesis as he notched up four centuries including the mammoth 231 in Hyderabad (Sind). He went on to score one more century against India and continued to perform well against them almost all the time. Nazar averaged 46.73 against India and remains one of the most successful Pakistani batsmen against the old rivals.

#6 Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq

The former Pakistan captain became one of India's most famous bugbears after those two innings in the World T20 in 2007, when he almost single-handedly won the title for his country.

Since then, he has been one of the most successful Pakistani batsmen against India across the three formats of the game. Misbah might have scored only two centuries but both of those came away from home and in Tests.

He averaged a staggering 55.50 against the old enemy in all formats of the game and has always taken a liking to the Indian attack. Even in his last game, which ended in defeat at the World Cup in 2015, he scored 74 for his side at a strike rate of over 90.

#5 Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf

If there was one Pakistani batsman who seemed to save his best for India, then it was Mohammad Yousuf. After scoring a half-century in his very first Test against India in 1999, he inflicted further pain on them the very next year when his dogged 63 rescued Pakistan from 71-6 and helped them to a 2 wicket win in Brisbane.

Yousuf scored five centuries across formats, with four coming in Tests and one in ODIs. In ODIs, he batted lower down the order and hence could not make many centuries. However, his tally of 18 half-centuries is a clear indication of his dominance of the Indian attack. He averaged 43.17 across two formats against the arch-rivals.

#4 Younis Khan

Younis Khan

Younis Khan was probably Pakistan's greatest ever batsman and throughout his career, almost always came good against India. In his initial years, including the historic series in Pakistan when India won both the Test and the ODI series, Younis could not do much.

However, it was on the visit to India that he came into his own. He scored 147 in the Kolkata Test and followed it up with 267 and 84 not out in the Bengaluru Test, which Pakistan won to square the series. From then on, he never looked back as he notched up a total of eight centuries and 11 fifties against India across formats (he never played a T20). His average of 51.96 speaks volumes of his domination of the Indian bowling attack.

3 Saeed Anwar

Saeed Anwar

No Pakistani batsman has tormented the Indian team as much as former opener Saeed Anwar and an average of 44.92 across formats is a testament to his capabilities. Anwar batted 54 times against India across the two formats of the game and scored 5 centuries and 9 half-centuries.

However, it needs to be kept in mind that in ODIs, he almost always got Pakistan off to a flier against India and even if he did not score much in the end, his early assault often proved to be the key.

Among his best innings against India, the record-breaking 194 in Chennai and the 188 not out in the Test match in Kolkata that Pakistan won, are the stand-out performances. Even in his very last appearance against India at the 2003 World Cup, he scored a century.

#2 Zaheer Abbas

Zaheer Abbas presenting the ICC Under 19 World Cup trophy

The former Pakistani batsman, regarded as one of the greatest the country has ever produced, always saved his best for the arch-rivals. Out of his 19 international centuries, he scored nine against India, helping Pakistan win multiple Tests against the neighbours.

In his very first Test series against India in 1978, he scored 176 and 235 not out in the games at Faisalabad and Lahore respectively, the latter resulting in a resounding victory for Pakistan. During India's 1982-83 tour to Pakistan, Abbas scored six centuries (four in Tests and two in ODIs) and his reputation as India's nemesis was permanently sealed. One of Pakistan's most prolific batsman against the arch-rivals, he averaged a jaw-dropping 73.50 against India across a total of 34 games (Tests and ODIs).

1 Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad (R)

When Javed Miandad was run out in his final game against India in the 1996 World Cup game at Bangalore, Indian historians and cricket fans had stood up to applaud the former Pakistani great. However, a fellow spectator admonished him and when Ramachandra Guha replied that he was applauding the final innings of a great player, the spectator replied, "Thank God I will never have to see that b****rd play again!"

That was what Javed Miandad meant to a whole generation of Indians, who had watched him torment their country's cricket team for around 18 years, starting 1978. Aside from 8 hundreds and as many as 20 fifties across formats, Javed delivered the ultimate blow to Indian fans when he hit a six off the last ball to win a game on his own in the Australasia Cup final at Sharjah in 1986.

That last ball six might be his greatest moment against India, but he had other memorable moments as well, with his highest Test score of 280 also coming against them. Abbas may have averaged more than his tally of 60.76 across formats, but as far as the psychological impact was concerned, no one quite came close to Javed Miandad.