Pakistan's playing XI in their last Test vs India: Where are they now?

Towards the end of 2007, Pakistan toured India to play 3 Tests and 5 ODIs. Unfortunately for the visitors, they lost the ODIs 3-2 and the Tests 1-0. Despite the series losses, Pakistan put up a fight in almost every game and cricket fans across the world saw the sport played at the highest level and with intense passion.

Sadly, we haven't seen any India-Pakistan bilateral action since, as a result of the ongoing political conflicts between the two neighbouring countries. Although Pakistan have struggled against India in ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup, they managed to pull off a comprehensive victory in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

India hadn't beaten their fiercest rivals at home in over 27 years before this Test series but managed to scrape through against a stacked Pakistan side. After India won the first Test of the series, draws ensued in the next two, but the games were far from boring.

In the third Test at Bengaluru, the last 5-day match between the two sides, Sourav Ganguly had one of the best games of his career, scoring an imperious 239 in the first innings and a stroke-filled 91 in the second. Captain Anil Kumble, in his first assignment at the helm, picked up 5 wickets in the second innings against his favourite opposition.

We have already seen where the members of the victorious Indian team are now:

India's playing XI in their last Test vs Pakistan: Where are they now?

In this article, we take a look at what the cricketers in the Pakistan playing XI for the third Test are up to at the moment.

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Pakistan's Playing XI vs India in 2007

The Pakistan team in action against India in 2007

Salman Butt: The opener was well on track to become one of Pakistan's greatest ever batsmen before a spot-fixing scandal tore apart his promising career. After representing his country in 33 Tests and 78 ODIs and even becoming captain, the southpaw was banned for 10 years, which was later reduced upon appeal.

The ban ended in 2015, but Butt has never been in the reckoning for Pakistan since. He now plays for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), but remains disgraced as a result of the controversy.

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Yasir Hameed: Hameed was destined for greatness but never quite reached his potential. The opener became the third fastest batsman to reach 1000 runs in ODI cricket (at the time) and also scored twin tons on his Test debut. However, his form fell off a cliff soon after and he was dropped after this India series.

Hameed went unsold in the initial PSL auctions but frequently makes the headlines for his bold and sometimes controversial claims. He retired from international cricket officially in 2016, but the decision was a mere formality given that he played his last match for Pakistan in 2007.

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Younis Khan: The captain of this Pakistan team went on to have a long and distinguished career spanning 18 years. Khan is the only player in the history of cricket to have scored a century in all 11 countries that have hosted a Test match, and is undoubtedly one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

He was recently appointed the batting coach of the Pakistan team for their upcoming tour of England. Coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who retired alongside Khan, has expressed his utmost faith in the former's ability to guide the young generation of batsmen in the country.

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Mohammad Yousuf: Another solid middle-order batsman, Yousuf's rags to riches story is well known to fans across the world. A veteran of 90 Tests and 287 ODIs, Yousuf could have been mentioned in the same breath as Younis Khan had he steered clear of controversy.

Constant allegations of misconduct cast a cloud over the player who scored a whopping 1,788 runs in Tests in 2006. After retiring in 2010, Yousuf has largely been away from the limelight, but makes occasional appearances on talk shows to give his opinions on various happenings in the world of cricket.

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Misbah-ul-Haq: Misbah went on to become one of his country's greatest ever captains, despite suffering heartbreaking defeats in ICC tournaments. Although an ODI century eluded him in a 17-year career, the right-hander holds the record for the second fastest Test century of all time (56 balls).

Misbah is currently the Chief Selector and Head Coach of Pakistan, and it is safe to say that the country's cricket team is in great hands.

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Faisal Iqbal: Iqbal played for Pakistan in 26 Tests and 18 ODIs, but never managed to nail down a spot in the team owing to his poor strike rate in both formats. The right-hander is yet to announce his retirement officially, although he last played a Test in 2010 and an ODI in 2006.

Iqbal boasts of an active social media presence but it is too far-fetched to imagine him making a comeback to the national setup.

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Kamran Akmal: The eldest of the Akmal brothers, Kamran has had a chequered career so far. With match-fixing allegations tarnishing what could have been a great career for Pakistan, Akmal has been out of the national setup since 2017,

Despite his sometimes abysmal keeping often coming under the radar, it was his inconsistency in batting that led to his ouster. He now plays for the Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL and an international comeback is perhaps a mountain too tall to climb.

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Yasir Arafat: The all-rounder promised much after making his debut in 2017, but dropped off the national radar in the matter of a few years due to him not offering enough with either bat or ball.

Arafat announced his international retirement before turning 30, and has played for domestic teams in over six countries, the most notable being Hampshire in England and the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL).

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Mohammad Sami: Sami had real pace and one of the smoothest actions a fast bowler could have. However, despite these natural gifts, he is not mentioned in the same breath as other great Pakistan quicks, mostly due to him often being erratic.

The 39-year-old once bowled a horror 17-ball over in an ODI, but has since featured in various domestic T20 competitions like the PSL and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with reasonable success.

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Shoaib Akhtar: Akhtar is one of the fastest bowlers the game has ever seen, but injuries took their total on the Rawalpindi Express. The pacer played only 46 Tests but picked up an astonishing 178 wickets at an average of 25.69.

Controversies ravaged Akhtar's career, ruining the reputation of a man who could have become one of the greatest fast bowlers the game has ever seen. He is now a pundit and commentator on TV and also has his own YouTube channel.

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Danish Kaneria: The leg-spinner was meant to the next name in a long line of world-class Pakistan twirlers, but Kaneria played only 61 Tests and 18 ODIs. A spot-fixing scandal tarnished his career in 2009, and he finally admitted to the allegations in 2018 after denying them vehemently for years.

Kaneria was famous for his deadly googly, and like so many other Pakistan players on this list, we are left to ask ourselves what could have been.