One and Done: The Lore of Pakistani Players with a Lone Test Cap
The dream of all aspiring cricketers, at least in most parts of the cricketing world, is to step onto the field with the red ball representing their country. Receiving a test cap is a symbol that a player has made it, that all those hours in the gym, nets, and field have paid off. However, for many cricketers, the dream is a rather short lived one. This is a write-up regarding the Pakistani players to have received only one test cap, focusing on the more interesting cases. Obviously, recent debutants will not be included, this is only an account of the notable truly one and done cricketers.
Khalid Hasan
Upon debut in 1954, Khalid Hasan was the then youngest debutant of all time at just 16 years old. The circumstances behind his debut are quite interesting when viewed through a modern lens. In 1954, Pakistan embarked on a mammoth tour of the British Isles which lasted from May to September. The tour itself featured only four tests but was accompanied by 26 tour matches against counties, Scotland, Canada, and other local British sides.
Khalid would play four games leading up to his debut at Trent Bridge (vs Glamorgan, Scotland, Combined Services and Yorkshire) where he had only one performance of note. On debut he bowled 2/116, including bowling out the legendary Denis Compton. He was not the worst bowler of the test, but his performance was not enough to merit reselection. He never played for Pakistan again, and passed away in 2013.
Aslam Khokhar
Aslam Khokhar technically played in Pakistan’s first ever test against a touring West Indies side in 1949, but that test hasn’t been awarded test status. Therefore, his true debut came in the same lengthy tour of England as Khalid Hasan’s debut did. In the leadup to his debut he played four games (vs: MCC, Hampshire, Combined Services, and Yorkshire) where he scored two fifties. His actual debut did not go swimmingly though, as he scored 16 & 18. He would play a handful of the later tour games but never don the star for Pakistan again.
He would turn to umpiring to remain involved in the sport. He stood in 3 tests, including the test debut of Abdul Qadir, and stood in his final FC game in 2004 at the age of 84. He would pass away in 2011 at the age of 91, making him Pakistan’s oldest test cricketer.
Gul Mohammad
An entire separate post can be written about Gul Mohammad and his career. He made his debut for India in 1946 on the back of phenomenal performances in the Bombay Pentangular. He played in a Bengal Cyclone XI side which contained Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali, the former of which he had a 300 run stand with.
He would play 8 tests for India at an average of nothing special. In 1955 he decided to immigrate to Pakistan where he would receive his lone test cap against Australia. He scored 12 and an unbeaten 27 featuring the winning runs. He never played for Pakistan again but would have a legacy of being of the few players to play for multiple test sides. He passed from cancer in 1992.
Farooq Hamid
Farooq Hamid was a tall quick who showed promise at a young age. He was taken along to England on developmental tours where Alf Glover deemed him to be one of the fastest bowlers in the world but lacking accuracy, an issue not unfamiliar to Pakistani quicks nearly 60 years removed. He was taken along to Australia to debut at the MCG in 1964 where he only managed to take the wicket of an Australian debutant by the name of Ian Chappell.
He would never play for Pakistan again, but would have a decent FC career. More interesting than him, however, is his sister Tahira Hamid who was one of the founding members of the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Association which laid the groundwork for the Pakistan women’s cricket team. Farooq Hamid passed away last year in April of 2025.
Anwar Khan
Anwar Khan was a tall fast bowling all-rounder for Pakistan in the 70s and 80s… you probably already see the problem he ran into here. Pakistan already had a player, just a little bit better than Anwar, who had filled that archetype. His first test cap came as a surprise to him as well due to injury to Imran Khan in New Zealand. Anwar Khan, the veteran of over 100 FC games, was called up to replace him as he gave a performance of 12 & 3 with no wickets.
He would never play for Pakistan again but would become a match referee, serving in hundreds of domestic matches as recently as 2016.
Shahid Saeed
Shahid Saeed was a very average batsman, but in Pakistan being mediocre is often enough to find a way into the squad. He would receive a debut against India in Karachi 1989. Indian fans reading this may perk up at that. Yes, Shahid Saeed shared a debut with Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis (and Salil Ankola who is interesting in his own right). Performance wise, he did not outshine the other debutants to say the least. Sachin scored 15 to Saeed’s 12 whereas Waqar Younis bowled 4/80 including the wicket of Sachin. He would never play for Pakistan again and eventually move to England for a non-cricketing career opportunity.
Shahid Mahboob
Having already made his ODI debut, in a world cup no less, six years prior, Shahid Mahboob was a right armed paceman battling for a spot in an era with Wasim Akram, Aaqib Javed, and Waqar Younis. He would play a singular test against India at Lahore in 1989 where he took only 2 wickets on a dead wicket. Those two wickets, however, were Mohammad Azharuddin and Ravi Shastri.
He would never play for Pakistan again, but had a very long FC career of 152 games and 678 wickets. He would later have a career in coaching and player development. He eventually was made head of the PCB’s Karachi High Performance Center in 2022 to groom the future of Pakistan cricket.
Nadeem Ghauri
Nadeem Ghauri is one whose post-cricket career is more interesting than his playing career. He received a sole test cap in Australia where he scored not a single run and took not a single wicket. He would never play for Pakistan again but would serve cricket in other capacities. He stood as umpire in 67 ODIs and 17 tests. He was also on the bus which was attacked during the terrorist attack in 2009. In 2013 his career properly came to an end when he was banned by the PCB for involvement in match fixing.
Shakeel Ahmed
Shakeel Ahmed was a left arm spinner with a round action in the 90s who was not really on cricket media’s radar. His selection for the 3rd test against Australia in Karachi came as a surprise to many. In his debut, which he shared with the debut of one Shahid Khan Afridi, he bowled 4/91 including the dismissal of both of the Waugh brothers.
Partly due to cricket media shitting on him and partly due to Shahid Afridi turning out as the much better bowler, he was forgotten and never played for Pakistan again. He is also one of three Pakistani test cricketers to have been born in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Bazid Khan
Few players of any sport have the game itself encoded into their genes, among those few is Bazid Khan. His grandfather, Jahangir Khan (not the squash player), had played for the All-India XI which was essentially India’s first ever test. His father, Majid Khan, is amongst the finest batsmen Pakistan has ever produced. His uncle, Imran Khan, is the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced. Needless to say, he had a genealogy conducive to producing cricketers.
Bazid Khan himself, despite a long FC career, was notably less talented than his father and uncle. He played for Brighton College and the MCC as well, reflecting his elite upbringing. In his sole test, against the West Indies in 2005, Bazid scored 9 & 23 before being dropped from the side. He would never play tests for Pakistan again but would have a long and ongoing career as a commentator and presenter.
Zulqarnain Haider
I’ll move quickly through his sole test appearance because he is far more interesting for what happened in the months following his debut. Zulqarnain Haider is a wicket-keeper batsman who debuted for Pakistan in August of 2010 in England. In his lone test he scored a golden duck & 88 as Pakistan lost by 9 wickets. He would never play tests again but would be selected in other formats.
Two months removed from his test debut, he was playing ODIs against South Africa in the UAE. Between the 4th and 5th ODI he vanished. Neither the PCB nor his teammates had any idea where he was. A couple days had gone by and he turned up in London, having announced his retirement from all formats and was seeking asylum. Apparently a bookie had asked him to sell the 4th ODI, a game in which he had hit the winning runs. Following which he had received death threats. Fearing for his life, he fled to England. The PCB would eventually give him security assurances and ask him to return home, which he did. He paid a fine later on for breaking team policy as his career came to a close.
Muhammad Musa
Muhammad Musa is a strange case of a promising young pacer. He is a bit undersized as fast bowlers go, standing at 5 '9, yet he had impressed the PCB enough with domestic performances to earn him a test call up. The test call up in question was being fed to the dogs in Australia. His debut game was Adelaide 2019. The PCB watched, with glee no doubt, as their young pacer gave 114 runs in 20 overs with no wicket to show for it. David Warner dropped an unbeaten 335 on his head as well as the rest of the Pakistan attack who was termed by Australian media as “The worst bowling attack to wash up on Australian shores.” And yes this was also the match where Yasir Shah scored a century, not relevant but I enjoy bringing that up wherever I can.
Musa was dropped following this and never played for Pakistan again. His domestic performances tanked as well across all formats to the point that he is no longer a staple even in the PSL. Recent conversation around him varies between “The PCB ruined him” or “He was never even that good.”
Zafar Gohar
Zafar Gohar, with whom county cricket viewers should be intimately familiar, is a bowling all-rounder who bowls spin. He is a spinner, who bowls the ball spinningly. His chosen bowling style of preference is spin bowling. He delivers the ball by applying spin with his fingers. With that in mind, and having established that he is a spinner, the PCB handed him a test debut against New Zealand at Christchurch. New Zealand did not field a single spinner for good reason. The pitch did not supply a singular damn of a thing for spin, as Gohar (a very consistent FC performer) gave 152 runs in 39 overs. He would be dropped and never play for Pakistan again.
There’s also a story about him having missed a potential cap in the UAE in 2015 because he overslept but I’m not sure how true that is. Regardless, the PCB burned his career so badly that he flew across the world to England where he has been a staple in the county championship and has done fairly well for himself.
Tabish Khan
Having made his FC debut at just 17 years of age, Tabish Khan was quickly making a name for himself in the Pakistani red-ball circuit. He performed and performed, year in and year out. His name was always amongst the highest domestic wicket takers. Fast forward about 20 years and a 36 year old Tabish Khan is still toiling in the hell that is the everchanging Pakistan domestic circuit.
The PCB chairman, for the seemingly umpteenth time, changed as Pakistan were eyeing down a test tour of Zimbabwe in 2021. After 137 FC games, Tabish Khan received a call up. It is hard to term this as anything other than a pity selection. “Thank you for putting up with us for your entire adult life, here is a singular test cap for your efforts,” is seemingly what the PCB said to him upon debut. Tabish Khan would strike in his first over and not take a wicket for the rest of the test. He would never play for Pakistan again and retired, I think, from FC in 2024.
Haris Rauf
Haris Rauf’s test career is a funny story and an example of why you should listen to your players. Haris Rauf had been awarded a central contract on the back of his limited overs performances. The PCB, who suddenly decided they cared about test cricket, demanded that all centrally contracted players should play all formats for Pakistan. Haris Rauf, who I believe only had a handful of FC appearances at this point, refused to play tests. It made sense, why should someone with 3 FC games play tests for Pakistan?
The PCB was adamant and began pearl clutching about the sanctity of test cricket, something they’ve never cared about before, as Haris Rauf was forced to make his test debut against England at Rawalpindi in 2022. On debut he took one wicket (Zak Crawley) and got injured after 13 overs. He would never play tests again after proving his point to the PCB.
This post is by no means exhaustive. Players such as Riaz Afridi, brother of Shaheen Afridi, whose only two test wickets are Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, are also worthy of a mention. I actually had to write this post twice as my laptop decided to update the first time before I could post it and nuked the whole article. I preferred the original one, which included more players and tidbits, but this will have to do as I’m not about to write all that again unfortunately.
Thank you for reading!