Most Popular Sportsmen in Pakistan: Cricket, Hockey & More

Say the words “1992 World Cup” to almost anyone in Pakistan and you won’t need to finish the sentence. Imran Khan’s cricketers turned that tournament into a national memory that still gets replayed every time Pakistan plays a big match. But cricket only tells part of the story. In squash, Jahangir Khan strung together a winning streak so long that opponents started retiring rather than face him, and Pakistan’s hockey team once ruled the Olympics the way few teams have ruled anything.

Cricket: The Heartbeat of Pakistani Sport

Cricket runs deeper in Pakistan than any other sport, and the national team has produced players who belong in any conversation about the game’s all-time greats.

Imran Khan captained Pakistan to their only ICC Cricket World Cup title, in 1992, a win that turned him into something closer to a national symbol than a sportsman. That tournament still gets replayed in highlight reels decades later.

Wasim Akram could swing the ball at pace in both directions, a skill that made him nearly impossible to set up against. Fast bowlers still study his action and his wrist position today.

Javed Miandad built his reputation on fighting his way out of tight matches. His last-ball six against India in the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup final is still replayed as one of cricket’s defining moments.

Zaheer Abbas, nicknamed the “Asian Bradman,” scored runs with a fluency that made him one of the most watchable batters of the 1970s and 1980s.

Babar Azam, the current captain, has spent recent years ranked among the top batters in the world across formats, and he’s the player most Pakistani fans point to when asked who carries the team now.

Squash: Pakistan’s Other Sporting Dynasty

For a stretch of decades, world squash essentially ran through Pakistan.

Jahangir Khan went unbeaten for roughly five and a half years during the 1980s, a run that’s hard to compare to anything else in professional sport. He won the World Open title repeatedly during that stretch.

Jansher Khan picked up where Jahangir left off, winning the World Open eight times and keeping Pakistan at the top of the sport well into the 1990s.

Field Hockey: Olympic Glory

Pakistan’s field hockey team collected multiple Olympic gold medals during a golden run that stretched from the 1960s into the 1980s. Players from that era are still cited as setting the technical standard the sport chased for years afterward.

Notable Pakistani Sportsmen at a Glance

Name	Sport	Notable Achievement
Imran Khan	Cricket	Led Pakistan to 1992 Cricket World Cup title
Wasim Akram	Cricket	Widely regarded as the greatest left-arm fast bowler ever
Javed Miandad	Cricket	Among Pakistan’s greatest match-winning batters
Zaheer Abbas	Cricket	Known as the “Asian Bradman”; prolific international run-scorer
Babar Azam	Cricket	Widely considered Pakistan’s best active batter
Jahangir Khan	Squash	Regarded by many as the greatest squash player of all time
Jansher Khan	Squash	Eight-time World Open champion
Pakistan Hockey Team	Field Hockey	Multiple Olympic gold medals in field hockey

Why These Athletes Matter Beyond Sport

These are not just names on a scorecard. Imran Khan’s 1992 win landed during a period when Pakistan needed something to rally around, and it became exactly that. Jahangir Khan’s dominance did something similar on a smaller scale, putting Pakistani athletic talent on a stage most of the world otherwise ignored.

Babar Azam now carries a version of that same weight. Every innings he plays gets watched by millions of people who see him as the next name in a line that started with Imran and Wasim.