Sports

[Iroquois Pliskin]

The official and national sport of Pakistan is field hockey, although squash and cricket are also very popular. The national cricket team has won the Cricket World Cup once (in 1992), were runners-up once (in 1999) and co-hosted the games twice (in 1987 and 1996). Pakistan is also set to host cricket world-cup jointly with India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2011. The team has also won the Australasia Cup thrice (1986, 1990, 1994). Pakistan has produced many famous cricketers, including Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Hanif Mohammad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Sarfraz Nawaz, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. On November 30, 2006 Mohammad Yousuf broke one of the longest-standing records in cricket, of the most runs scored in a calendar year.


Pakistan has also produced a number of successful world-class squash players such as Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan. Muhammad Yousuf, not to be confused with the above cricketer, was world amateur snooker champion in the 1990s.

At an international level, Pakistan has competed many times at the Summer Olympics in field hockey, boxing, athletics, swimming, and shooting. Pakistan's medal tally remains at 10 medals (3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze) while at the Commonwealth games and Asian Games it stands at 61 medals and 182 medals respectively. Hockey is the sport that Pakistan has been most successful at the Olympics, with three gold medals (1960, 1968, 1984). Pakistan has also won the Hockey World Cup a record four times (1971, 1978, 1982, 1994).[60] Pakistan has hosted several international competitions, including the SAF Games in 1989 and 2004.


A1 Grand Prix racing is also becoming popular with the entry of a Pakistani team in the 2005 season. The Tour de Pakistan, modelled on the Tour de France, is an annual cycling competition that covers the length and breadth of Pakistan. Recently, football has grown in popularity across the country, although the national football team is still considered to be very weak and has yet to qualify for a World Cup.