2001–02 Asian Test Championship
, Pakistan and Sri Lanka competed in the second Asian Test Championship between August 2001 and March 2002. India pulled out of the tournament due to political tensions with Pakistan.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka both played Bangladesh in the two round robin matches. A win was worth 16 or 12 points, a tie 8 points and no points were awarded for a draw or loss. Additionally, bonus points were awarded to teams for bowling and batting performances. Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified for the final after convincingly beating Bangladesh in Multan and Colombo, respectively.
The final was held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 8 wickets to win the second Asian Test championship.
Pre-championship build-up
India's pullout
The 2001–02 Asian Test Championship was originally planned to include all four Asian ICC full-members. However, before the tournament started, India's participation was put in doubt.Initially, the BCCI requested the ACC to change the venue of the final of the championship. The BCCI requested that if Bangladesh did not reach the final, the match should not be held in Dhaka, and if India and Pakistan were to meet in the final, it should be held in India, and if an India–Sri Lanka final was to take place, it should be held in Sri Lanka. The BCCI stated that if the venue for the final was not changed it would be difficult for India to participate in the championship.
Following this, the BCCI commented that India's participation in the championship and selection of the team would depend on permission from the Indian government. India's delay in confirming their participation in the championship resulted in the ACC threatening that the tournament would go ahead as scheduled without India. However the BCCI reacted strongly to the threat, claiming that " decision will be taken shortly" and that the delay doid not " that India has pulled out of the championship".
A week before the championship was scheduled to begin, the BCCI announced that India would not participate in the tournament. This decision was reported to have been taken by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other government ministers after a meeting with the BCCI. It was widely understood that India's withdrawal was due to political tensions between India and Pakistan. Indian sports minister Uma Bharti stated that cricketing ties between the two countries would resume after the normalization of their political ties. Indian players' security and safety in Pakistan was also noted to be a major concern.
As expected, the ACC reacted angrily to India's decision; it confirmed that the tournament would be rescheduled and go ahead with only three teams. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the chairman of the ACF, the marketing arm of the ACC, described the government's decision not to allow the Indian team to participate in the Asian Test Championship as an internal matter:
"It is purely an internal matter between the Government of India and the Indian Cricket Board. The ACC or the ACF has no jurisdiction to deal with the respective governments. I have no comment to make on the decision."
The PCB expressed regret over India's decision not to participate in the championship. The PCB chairman, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia, was dismayed over the Indian government's decision to go back on their commitment, which was a guarantee that India would have no objection playing multilateral tournaments which included Pakistan.
The ICC was expected to sanction or fine the BCCI for their actions. The ACC and PCB were expected to experience a financial impact due to India's decision. Pakistan in particular were unhappy since Pakistan's tour of India in 1999 helped raise millions of dollars in revenue for the BCCI. India had already cancelled a tour to Pakistan earlier in the year. Additionally, after the first Test, the Bangladesh Cricket Board reported that they were fearing bankruptcy due to India's withdrawal from the tournament. The director of the BCB, Ashraf-ul-Haq, commented that funds that would have been generated by the ACC from the championship would be used to invest in Bangladesh cricket as well as other minor countries, without which the BCB faced serious financial problems. Ashraf planned on condemning the BCCI in the following ICC executive and ACC meetings.
Former Pakistan Test players, including Intikhab Alam, Haseeb Ahsan, and Wasim Akram, accused India of withdrawing due to fear of losing to Pakistan. Tournament captains, Waqar Younis and Naimur Rahman expressed India's absence as a disappointment.
Appointment of John Reid as match referee
The Pakistan Cricket Board protested the appointment of John Reid as match referee for the 1st match of the 2001–02 Asian Test Championship. John Reid had been involved in controversies involving the Pakistan team; he had fined and suspended Waqar Younis and Azhar Mahmood for ball tampering and had been involved in reporting Shoaib Akhtar's suspect bowling action to the ICC.Pakistan used the precedent that Sri Lanka had successfully removed Australian umpire Darrell Hair from their matches during the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Hair had called Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing during a tour of Australia.
However, ICC policies do not permit any member country to veto the appointment of independent referees or umpires. The ICC rejected Pakistan's formal complaint, and the ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed assured that the PCB had confirmed that
John Reid would receive the same courtesies that are extended to all ICC officials visiting Pakistan.
John Reid did not comment on the protest, but expressed disappointment and that he was still available to go to the match and do the job he had been appointed to.
Squads
and Mushtaq Ahmed were left out of the initial Pakistan training squad before the tournament. This was done to make room for younger players, however, Akram did feature in the first Test match but failed to record a wicket. Prior to the championship, the Pakistan Cricket Board formally announced that Richard Pybus would be the new coach of the Pakistan team for at least three series.Scoring system
The scoring system used for the 2001–02 Asian Test Championship was a revised version of the first system used in the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship. The Asian Cricket Council approved the revisions brought forward by the technical committee compromising of Sunil Gavaskar, Zaheer Abbas, Ashantha De Mel and Gazi Ashraf. Points for winning the match were kept at 12, however additional points were given for an innings victory. Points for a tie were increased from 6 to 8.| Result | Points |
| Win | 12 |
| Win by an innings | 16 |
| Tie | 8 |
| Draw/Loss | 0 |
Bonus points were awarded to teams for good bowling and batting performances. A maximum of 24 points could be gained in one match. The bonus bowling and batting points were confined to the first 100 overs of the first innings. The two teams with the highest number of points qualify for the final. If two teams are tied on points, the team with a better run rate in the first 100 overs will go through. If the final ends in a draw, the side with the higher bonus points will win. For the 2001–02 Championship, the bonus point system was changed, 400+ runs and 10 wickets to achieve maximum points.
1st Test: Pakistan v Bangladesh
The first Test match of the Championship was between Bangladesh and Pakistan. It was held in Multan, at the newly renovated $2.5 million Multan Cricket Stadium. This was the first Test match to be held in Multan since 1980–81 when the West Indies drew a match with Pakistan. Being the first match in the stadium, the nature of the pitch and ground was unknown, however a result was expected.This was the first Test match between the two sides. The previous international cricket match between the two sides was at the 1999 Cricket World Cup when Bangladesh upset Pakistan to win its first One Day International against a Test team. Bangladesh was granted Test status only 14 months prior to the championship; this was their fourth Test match, having played India once and Zimbabwe twice losing on all three occasions. Before the match, Bangladesh captain had ruled out the possibility of a repeat upset while batsmen Al Sahariar revealed that the aim for the team was to play the full five days. The Bangladesh team had engaged notable former cricketers Javed Miandad of Pakistan, Andy Roberts of West Indies and Trevor Chappell of Australia as coaches, to strengthen their side. However, monsoon weather had hampered their preparations for the tournament.
For Pakistan, Saqlain Mushtaq was left out of the side due domestic conflicts in England. Taufeeq Umar and Shoaib Malik were included in the initial 16-man squad; both players earned their first Test cap in this match. Wasim Akram, initially left out of the 27-man training squad, was included in the final 16 and 11, taking Shoaib Akhtar's place, after a positive performance in a first-class match between PCB XI and Bangladesh.
Pakistan entered the match as clear favorites, despite having failed to win a Test series at home since 1997, when Wasim Akram captained the side to a 3–0 whitewash over the West Indies. Since then, Pakistan has lost series against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, England and Australia.