Late legendary leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq were rated as the most popular dream pair as some 900,000 fans voted in their favour.
Googly master Qadir and inventor of ‘doosra’ Saqlain dominated the PCB Dream Pair contest for spin bowlers. Qadir had taken 236 Test wickets while Saqlain finished his career at 208 Test wickets and both are considered as the best leg and off spinners for the country respectively. They were followed by the pair of Saqlain and leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.
The legendary fast bowling duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who shared 787 Test wickets between them was rated as the most popular fast bowling pair in Pakistan Test history, while Mohammad Asif was chosen to share the ball with Wasim as the second most popular fast bowling pair.
The qualification criterion for both fast bowlers and spinners was a minimum of 75 Test wickets.
Among openers, the 90s batting greats Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail (qualification minimum 1,000 runs as opener) came out as the most popular pair.
The famed left-handed pair was followed by Saeed Anwar’s paring with Majid Khan, regarded as one of the most stylish and productive openers produced by Pakistan.
Among middle-order batsmen (qualification minimum 2,500 runs in middle-order, batting positions three to seven) the famed middle-order batting duo of Pakistan highest Test run-getter Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf emerged as the most popular pair followed by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf, a pair that remained the backbone of Pakistan Test batting in recent history.
The two-day long all-rounders campaign will be followed by most popular wicketkeeper and captain.
The aim of the Dream Pairs activity is to acknowledge the services of former and present stars of Pakistan cricket. Before the all-rounders, the campaigns for spinners, fast bowlers, openers and middle-order batting pairs received tremendous response.