The Miandad effect reconsidered: analysis of Pakistan's cricket performance 1952 to 2005

In 2004 Abbasi and Khan reported an enduring influence of a 1986 Pakistani landmark victory in cricket over India on subsequent matches up to 2003. The present study reconsidered the significance and the specificity of this phenomenon, denoted as the "Miandad effect." All 659 Pakistani cricket encounters with India and other frequently played opponents up to 2005 which yielded a winning team were included in the analysis. The increase in matches won by Pakistan over India in the post-1986 period was statistically not significant. Changes in match performance against other frequently played nations, namely, increases against England and the West Indies as well as decreases against Australia and Sri Lanka, were larger than the one seen with India. Apparently, the Miandad effect neither generalized to all recurrently encountered opponents, nor was specific to India.