Ireland made an impressive showing in their first test match. In a game dogged by the weather, Keving O Brien’s response to a follow on added perspective to a game that had been looking like a clear drubbing for the hosts at the hands of Pakistan. There were even a few glowing moments of hope when the Irish struck early thrice in Pakistan’s chase of an easy target, and what could have been a possible innings victory ended up being a much closer affair on paper, with Pakistan winning by five wickets on Day 5.
Not to take away from what is a historic moment not just for Ireland but for the game of Cricket itself, but the game went a long way to reveal the gaping holes in the current Pakistan test setup that have yet to be filled since the exit of Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan. Going in to a challenging couple of five day games against an on fleek England squad, the squeamish win over Ireland should serve as a sobering moment of retrospection.
It has now been just over a year since Misbah ul Haq captained Pakistan for the last time. It was a befitting farewell full of thrills and cricketing history. In a match that also saw the last of Pakistan’s most prolific batsman and World Cup winning skipper Younis Khan, Pakistan’s first test series triumph in the Caribbean was a fairytale ending to two embattled careers that rarely saw such moments of poignancy.
But more than a year since Misbah ul Haq and his men snatched victory in the final over of a true nailbiter of a test match, and Pakistan still finds itself a lost side, looking again for the direction that Misbah had so painstakingly built in his six year tenure as Captain.
Pakistan is currently ranked number 7 in the ICC Test team rankings. Under Misbah, the team had displaced India and had brought the test mace home after a successful tour of England. The cracks had begun to appear even before Misbah finally called it a day, and he had left Pakistan sitting low at number 6 in the test rankings. So one year on, has Pakistan still failed to find their rhythm? And how have they performed in their first year post MisYou?
The track record:
Admittedly the team has played only three games since their victory in the Caribbean last year. But even those three have been telling. The first two were resounding losses to a weak Sri Lankan set-up that came out looking better than it really was. What made the humiliation worse was that the clean sweep took place in the UAE, Pakistan’s adopted homeground, making it the first time that the team had lost a series in the UAE since Misbah had taken over the reigns.
The game against Ireland, at least, ended in victory. Yet even that seemed not a done deal at a couple of points in the game and the hosts gave a stronger showing than had been expected. While it was a win with a number of highs, it also showed some of Pakistan’s woeful inadequacies in batting, selection and team management.
Selection:
When Misbah and Younis had exited, there were expectations. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq would step out of the shadows and guid the new cadre of test batsmen Pakistan was bringing in. Babar Azam would finally earn his spurs in whites and would develop into a top batsman. Perhaps there would even be a recall for Fawad Alam. With so many open spots, the possibilities were endless. What happened instead was another snub for Fawad and the introduction of three openers other than Azhar Ali. Shadab Khan’s role remains unclear for when Yasir Shah returns from injury, and with Hassan Ali having played only a couple of tests, a pace attack so dependent on the injury prone Mohammad Amir remains unsustainable. And while he may be proving his worth, the selection of Chief Selector Inzama ul Haq’s nephew Imam seems to have left a bitter aftertaste.
Batting:
The holes were clear in the Sri Lanka series as well. Both games looked to be clear victories until Rangana Herath threatened to take apart the entire batting lineup. Where once Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan had once acted as the solid buffers for such situations, there remained only a series flaccid batsmen falling one after the other. Azhar Ali seems to be at a loss of form. Babar Azam can’t seem to get himself out of his test match stupor, although his second innings against Ireland was promising. Asad Shafiq too remains aloof and the only two batsmen seemingly in good nick are Imam ul Haq and Harris Sohail. Even Sarfaraz seems to have lost his nerve in front of the stumps with his last ton having come way back in 2014. One has to wonder how long we’ll have to wait for him to score one as Captain.
