"My 1987 side was baptised in India under fire and with a much younger side we beat a strong England side fresh from their Ashes win," Imran Khan said, looking back at that series more than a decade later. The Headingley pitch had uneven bounce on which Imran, 34 then, didn't fancy chasing even 100, and he ensured Pakistan didn't need to: he took 3 for 37 and 7 for 40 in the only positive result of the series. After this tour, Pakistan didn't lose a series in England till 2006.
Javed Miandad, who arrived late for the tour after staying back in Pakistan for the birth of his son, was in fine form in the lead-up to the Tests. He was out for a duck at Headingley but made 260 - his first hundred against England - in Pakistan's mammoth 708 at The Oval. After Imran's (initial) retirement, Miandad captained Pakistan on England's tour there later in the year, the series best remembered for the Mike-Gatting Shakoor Rana incident in Faisalabad.
No England-Pakistan series is complete without threats of punch-ups. Saleem Yousuf offered the drama here by claiming a catch off Ian Botham in the second innings after having dropped it. An angry Botham had to be separated from the keeper, and Imran prevented an escalation of the matter by remonstrating with Yousuf on the field. As nightwatchman Yousuf batted for over two and a half hours, facing testing spells from fast bowler Neil Foster, to add a crucial 66 runs with Saleem Malik.
Mudassar Nazar's primary contribution in this Test possibly was injuring Ian Botham's instep while bowling. England badly missed Ian Botham in the slips, where three catches were dropped on the first evening. In the next Test, at Edgbaston, where he had scored two ducks in 1982, Mudassar batted for nearly seven hours for 124.
Wicketkeeper Jack Richards, a centurion from the 1986-87 Ashes-winning squad, was overlooked for the home season and only played the third Test as a replacement for Bruce French, who hadn't recovered from chicken pox. Richards became Imran's 300th Test victim when he was caught by Ijaz Ahmed at forward short leg off a swinging delivery for 2 in the second innings. Richards quit cricket after the next season, tired of "amateurish organisation" and too much "old school tie".
Many felt that batsman Mansoor Akhtar largely had the career he did (19 Tests between 1980 and 1990) because of Imran's unwavering support even when more talented batsmen with temperaments more suited to international cricket were available. In first-class matches on the tour, Akhtar scored four hundreds and averaged 55, but made only one Test half-century, in a rain-affected match at Old Trafford. He featured in all five Tests but played only one more after the tour.
On debut, David Capel did admirably, scoring 53 in the first innings and batting for over three hours for 28 in the second. Capel's next encounter with Test cricket came on the winter tour to Pakistan. After bagging a pair in Lahore, Capel was in the eye of the storm in Faisalabad - he was the fielder Gatting was moving/halting when the brouhaha with Rana occurred. In the next Test, in Karachi, Capel made a career-best 98, but he never lived up to the (unfairly bestowed) tag of the new Ian Botham.
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