Pakistan sealed their second successive ODI series win after defeating Sri Lanka comprehensively by 8 wickets in the 4th ODI.

It was Sri Lanka's tormentor-in-chief, the one and only, Pakistan's professor Mohammad Hafeez who once again notched up an unbeaten century, his third of the series, to take Pakistan to a comfortable victory with over 8 overs to spare.

A Pakistan innings without Misbah walking out to the middle has been a rarity for a long time considering the number of times he has had to save Pakistan from a collapse. Last night, it happened for the second time in 4 ODIs thanks to the tremendous form that Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have been in.

Hafeez' has had a rollicking year in ODIs during which he has knocked 5 centuries, more than what he managed in his previous 9 years of international cricket (ODIs only).

The Pakistanis have established many interesting feats during this series that they have dominated.

1. Misbah overtook Virat Kohli as the leading run scorer in ODIs this year. His tally of 1,322 runs is well ahead of Kohli and with 1 ODI to go against Sri Lanka he can gain a significant lead and end the year as highest run scorer in ODIs.

2. The only man who can overtake Misbah is his Vice Captain, Hafeez, whose third century in four ODIs has taken his tally for the year to 1,260 runs.

3. Hafeez became only the 6th batsman overall and 2nd Pakistani batsman to score 3 centuries in a bilateral ODI series. He has scores of 122, 140*, and 113* in this series.

4. Hafeez has hit 5 centuries in ODIs this year, which is the most ODI centuries hit in 2013. Shikhar Dhawan also has 5. Hafeez has 1 more innings left and is in with a chance to break several more records.

5. Ahmed Shehzad scored his 4th ODI century in the 2nd ODI of the series against Sri Lanka. At 22 years and 26 days, Shehzad became the youngest Pakistani batsman to hit 4 ODI centuries, beating Salman Butt's record of reaching the feat at the age of 23 years and 35 days.

6. Ahmed Shehzad also became the fastest Pakistani batsman to hit 4 ODI centuries when he got there in only his 37th ODI innings, beating Saeed Anwar's record who hit his 4th ODI century in his 38th innings.

7. Both Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez started this series with their career batting averages below 30. Now they average 33.39 and 30.95 respectively.

8. When Pakistan won the 3rd ODI of the series against Sri Lanka, it was their 78th ODI win at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. They equalled the record for most victories on a single ground, which is held by Australia with 78 wins at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Interestingly, both Pakistan and Australia have a W:L ratio of 2.10 at the respective cricket grounds.

Pakistan's record reads: P 116, W 78, L 37, T 1; While Australia's reads P 120, W 78, L 37, NR 5!

Let's wait for Friday and see what more Shehzad, Hafeez, and Pakistan can achieve.

In the summer of 2009, Pakistan unleashed a teenage left arm fast bowler on the international stage who took the world by storm. By the end of the summer of 2010, with his international career barely a year old, Pakistan's teen sensation had shocked the world with the disgrace he brought to his country.

Mohammad Amir's career stocks fell just as fast as they had risen.

It has been more than three years since Amir played for Pakistan, yet hardly a match goes by without the fans missing his presence in the Pakistan XI. Till date majority of the Pakistan fans miss him, would like to see him play for Pakistan again, and are eagerly anticipating his return in two years, if not sooner.

Amir has created such a euphoria with his spellbinding performances that his aura continues to remind fans of what could have been.

This euphoria is also the reason why the rise of another left arm fast bowler from Pakistan, who came on to the international scene about a year after Amir left it, has gone unnoticed.

Junaid Khan has now been playing for Pakistan for over two years, and he is by far the best fast bowler to play for them for a long time. He has been spearheading Pakistan's pace attack for a while now and some of the performances that he has given, especially in ODIs, deserve special praise.

Something that I feel he has not been given enough of.

Junaid Khan is an inspiration for up and coming young pacers. He is not only the best fast bowler in Pakistan, but arguably one of the best in the world currently.

Junaid's performance in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Dubai left me awestruck. He bowled with intensity, with the firepower once associated with the two Ws, and single handedly brought Pakistan back into the game.

The performance also got me wondering just how good is Junaid Khan.

A comparison with Mohammad Amir shows that Junaid has been just as good, if not better, than the disgraced teen sensation, and yet he has not been applauded the same way that Amir was.


Junaid has definitely been superior in ODIs for Pakistan. One can only wonder how it would have been if these two left armers were currently spearheading Pakistan's attack.

A comparison with Pakistan's greatest fast bowlers, including the two Ws, Shoaib Akhtar, and Imran Khan, shows just how well Junaid Khan's career has progressed in ODIs.



Only Waqar Younis took more wickets than Junaid has in 39 ODIs; only 4 more wickets. And only Waqar Younis had a better strike rate than Junaid has after 39 ODIs; only 2 fewer deliveries required to pick up a wicket.

Junaid's relatively higher average and economy rate can be attributed to the playing conditions these days, which are far more conducive to high scores than in previous times.

Based on just this, Junaid is surely one of the best fast bowlers to emerge from Pakistan. He is only 23, and if he can sustain this form and fitness then he will have a long career, which will place him among the very best produced by Pakistan.

To put this into perspective at the global level, Junaid Khan's ODI bowling average of 22.93 is only bettered by Saeed Ajmal (22.87) and Ajantha Mendis (20.82) among the current ODI players with over 50 wickets.

There is no pacer in the world among the current players who has a better average than Junaid Khan.

Those players include Dale Steyn (25.49), Steven Finn (27.74), James Andersen (29.11), Lonwabo Tsotsobe (24.96), Morne Morkel (23.54), and Mitchell Johnson (25.37) - the fast bowlers part of the ICC rankings' Top 10 ODI bowlers.

Does this not make Junaid Khan one of the best fast bowlers in the world right now?

If you still need convincing, hear this...

Junaid Khan's strike rate of 27.6 in ODIs is the second best strike rate in ODIs ever (only Shaun Tait's 27.2 is better) for all bowlers who have taken a minimum of 50 ODI wickets.

While Amir might have taken the world of fast bowling by storm, it is Junaid who is slowly but surely making it his own!

Shahid Afridi did not bat like Shahid Afridi today.

Kevin Pietersen recently played the 100th test of his career. It took him 8 years and 4 months to reach the 100 test landmark, just a month short of the record held by Andrew Strauss, who reached the landmark in only 8 years and 3 months.

The current England captain, Alastair Cook, will play his 100th Test at Perth, which will be the third test of the ongoing Ashes series. Cook will surpass his former captains and become the only man in the world to reach the landmark in less than 8 years. It would have taken Cook 7 years and 9 months to play 100 tests.

Those figures suggest that these English players play 12-13 test matches in a year.

Michael Clarke will also play his 100th test at Perth, making it a unique scenario where both captains of the opposing teams would be playing their 100th test. Clarke will reach the landmark in 9 years and 2 months, implying that he's played approximately 11 tests a year.

Pietersen, Clarke, Cook are considered as the leading test batsmen of this era, along with the likes of Hashim Amla, AB De Villiers, and Kumar Sangakkara.

When I say this era, it is the one after the era of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, and Jacques Kallis, whose careers are over (or about to be in the case of Kallis).

I wonder though how much the English and Australian batsmen have benefited from playing a large amount of test cricket.

11-13 tests a year is a lot of test cricket.

Ricky Ponting played less than 10 tests a year during the course of his 17 year career. In comparison Sachin Tendulkar played only 8 tests a year. Brian Lara also played 8 tests a year, while Kallis plays an average of 9 per year.

The worst possible case however, is that of Younis Khan, who made his debut in 2000 - 13 years and 7 months ago - and has till date played only 86 tests, i.e. less than 7 tests a year.

That is due to a combination of the low number of tests that Pakistan plays, team politics, and Younis Khan's own erratic behaviour.

Whatever the reasons, one must wonder where Younis Khan would have been today had he played as much test cricket as Cook, Clarke, and Pietersen.


A comparison of all the above mentioned batsmen after 86 test matches, the amount that Younis has played till date, shows that only Lara and Sangakkara scored more runs; only Sachin, Ponting, Kallis, Sangakkara, and Clarke (marginally) averaged higher; only Sachin and Cook scored more centuries; and only Clarke and Lara have a higher personal score.

Can you imagine how many runs Younis would have scored had he played as much as Sachin, Ponting, and Kallis?

The three players have played double the amount of tests than Younis had. Sure they have had longer careers, but in Kallis' and Ponting's case, only 4-5 years longer. Even if Younis plays for another 4-5 years he would not get to 160 odd test matches.

Hell it would take him another 2 years to get to a 100 tests!

Younis Khan reached 7,000 test runs in 147 test innings. Faster than Pietersen, Clarke, and Cook got there; and only 1 innings later than Lara, and 2 later than Ponting.

The likes of Sachin, Sangakkara, Dravid, and even Sehwag and his country man Mohammad Yousuf got there significantly faster (7-10 innings lesser) but it tells you where Younis Khan stands.

Above the current batting greats, and at par with the all the modern day batting greats.

No Pakistani test batsman has scored 10,000 test runs.

The fastest batsmen to reach 10,000 test runs are Sachin, Lara, and Sangakkara, who got there in 195 test innings. Ponting took 196, Dravid 206, while the comparatively slower to that landmark include Steve Waugh who took 244 innings and Chanderpaul who took 239.

Javed Miandad, Pakistan's leading test scorer, did not even bat in 190 test innings in his career. Inzamam batted in 200.

There is no doubt that Pakistan's players suffer due to a lack of test cricket. Not only from creating records, but also from gaining more experience in the format. It is no secret that the more you play they better you become. How will our batsmen ever learn if they don't play enough?

Younis Khan is not the only batsman from Pakistan whose career can be tagged as "what might have been"; Mohammad Yousuf is also in a similar position.


Again it is a combination of Pakistan's test schedule, team politics, and Yousuf's own doing that he didn't play more or longer for Pakistan.

That record after 86 tests shows that Yousuf was well ahead of the pack of all batting greats. Only Sangakkara and Lara scored more runs in that many tests, and only Sachin scored more test centuries.

Yousuf's career ended after only 90 tests played over a period of 12 years and 6 months. That included a year of no test cricket for Pakistan, right after the year when Yousuf had surpassed Sir Viv Richards' record of the most test runs scored in a calendar year.

Pakistani batsmen are not the only ones who have been impacted by the low number of tests played by them; the bowlers have too.

Saeed Ajmal started his test career very late. He played his first test 4 years ago, a few months before his 32nd birthday. Since then he has played only 30 tests; only 7 tests a year.

He would have played another 20 in this time if he were from Australia or England.


Comparing Ajmal to other leading spinners in test cricket after 30 years shows that no other spinner even got close to the number of wickets Ajmal has taken; only Swann had a better strike rate; only Warne and Kumble had a better average; and no one picked up as many 10 wicket match hauls.

Can you imagine where Ajmal would have been had he played as much as Swann? Or where he would have ended if he played as many tests as Warne, Kumble, and Murali?

I can understand that some teams, including Pakistan, don't get their fair share of test cricket according to the FTP that is drawn up by the ICC every few years. They haven't played a 5 test series since 1992!

I also know that financial constraints make PCB schedule more ODIs on tours than test matches.

But are these reasons good enough to deny promising players from being considered as world's greatest?

They surely could have been.

It is a mixture of reasons why the likes of Ajmal, Younis, and Yousuf have not played as much test cricket as they ideally should have, but the foremost reason is the bad management controlling the PCB.

Till the board is sorted out and stronger leaders start to represent Pakistan on the global stage (for cricket and other things), players will continue to be impacted adversely.

"In other words, submission. Because, finally, what Pakistan are doing in these moments is asking you to submit. They are asking you, opponent and spectator, to submit to their reality, their chaos, their unplanning, their spur of the moment, their pox, their talent, their wretchedness, their beauty, their spirit." - Osman Samiuddin

Last night's second one day international between Pakistan and South Africa was an unbelievable game of cricket.

It was a game that reminded the Pakistani fans of their wins in the 90s when Wasim and Waqar would bring the team back from no where.

It was a game that reminded the Pakistani fans to believe again.

It was a game that made the Pakistani fans fall in love with their cricketers again.

To beat South Africa in South Africa in any form of the game is an achievement. To beat them in a series is a bigger achievement. And then to think that you have become the first ever team from the subcontinent to win a series in South Africa, is just overwhelming!

That is an achievement and a half for this Pakistan team, which not very long ago was being thrashed by South Africa in ODIs and T20s.

It has been an amazing comeback for the Boys in Green!

Everything worked yesterday for Pakistan.

A century partnership between Ahmed Shehzad and Sohaib Maqsood at a run rate of almost 6 per over provided them with a platform to fire from. Umar Akmal and Bilawal Bhatti, who very soon will move above Afridi in the batting order, finished the innings perfectly.

262 in 45 overs was a daunting target. It was going to be difficult for South Africa, especially considering that they were up against an in form bowling unit.

Junaid Khan gave Pakistan the perfect start, removing Smith early and keep the run rate in check. Even though Amla and De Kock kept it together for South Africa, their scoring rate of 4-4.5 an over never threatened Pakistan.

When Afridi came on to bowl, Amla and De Kock were well settled but the required run rate was steadily creeping towards 7 an over. Afridi, who has been superb with the ball against South Africa, applied more pressure and accounted for De Kock and Kallis in quick succession.

119-3 in 26. 144 required in 19 overs at 7.58. Game Over?

It looked like it, but AB De Villiers had different things in mind.

ABD went about his job and made the chase look like a cake walk.

The only time South Africa looked like they were in the hunt was when ABD was out there in the middle.

He smashed the bowling around, toyed with Pakistan's premier spinner, hit out against Pakistan's most economical bowler, and looked to take the game away from the Greens.

During the course of his innings, ABD brought down the run rate from over 7.5 to below 5.5.

It was a crushing match winning knock by the South African captain. But only just.

When ABD fell to a good catch by Afridi on the boundary, South Africa were left with only 36 runs to get from 38 deliveries with 6 wickets in hand. Amla was batting on 86 and JP Duminy was walking out to the crease.

It should have been like a walk in the park for South Africa. And it seemed it would be as Amla and Duminy went about their business with ease.

The match seemed lost for Pakistan.

35 from 36, 31 from 30, 26 from 24, 20 from 18, 11 from 12.

Just when it looked like it was game over for Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal delivered a counter punch like no other in the penultimate over of the match.

Amla and Duminy managed only two singles off the first 3 deliveries, and then Ajmal bowled two dot balls.

9 needed from 7. Pressure on South Africa. Ajmal had bowled beautifully.

Off Ajmal's final delivery, Amla went for the big one towards mid wicket. The ball was in the air and two Pakistani fielders were charging towards it. Misbah looked anxiously as Hafeez positioned himself to take the catch, which he held on to. It was a difficult one, but Hafeez remained calm and sent Amla back for a well made 98.

9 needed from the final over of the match.

Junaid Khan had the ball. David Miller was on strike. Duminy at the other end.

Now, it was any body's game.

Miller managed a single of the first delivery and then Duminy heaved the second ball towards mid wicket in the hope of getting a big one early in the over.

Umar Amin ran towards the ball and dived to take a catch inches from the ground. It was a superb effort to catch that in a pressure situation. I know the scorecard says Anwar Ali, even the commentators said Anwar Ali, but it was Umar Amin who caught that ball to send Duminy back.

8 from 4. Pakistan were truly and surely back in it.

Junaid Khan bowled a beautiful final over. His yorkers were spot on and he gave the batsmen no space at all. Reminded me of Wasim bhai. The Pakistani fielders were prowling the boundaries and the square like tigers. The catching was immaculate.

Junaid gave nothing away and Pakistan scraped home with a 1 run win!

A 1 run margin does justice to the sort of cricket that was played last night. But it doesn't do justice to the magical final over bowled by Junaid Khan. The final delivery went for 4 byes, which is why the end result was a 1 run victory.
The last two overs was what Osman Samiuddin has termed "The Haal of Pakistan". According to Osman, the Haal of Pakistan is described in the following words:

"In other words, submission. Because, finally, what Pakistan are doing in these moments is asking you to submit. They are asking you, opponent and spectator, to submit to their reality, their chaos, their unplanning, their spur of the moment, their pox, their talent, their wretchedness, their beauty, their spirit."

It was truly unbelievable. Pakistan pulled of an amazing win. One that should have been easier had it not been for some superlative batting by AB De Villiers.

In either case, it was a magical victory for Pakistan who became the first ever team from the subcontinent to win a series in South Africa.

Reliving the events from last night, and it still feels like pure magic.

Maza aa gaya Pakistaaaan!

This guest blog was written by John Rooney

It has been 17 years since Shahid Afridi made his ODI debut for Pakistan.

It has been 12 hours since Pakistan defeated South Africa in the first test of the two match series in Abu Dhabi, and the feeling that what a great achievement the win is for Pakistan has started to sink in.

There could not have been a more stark contrast between the test record of the two teams coming into this match.

South Africa - undefeated in 15 tests prior to this one, ranked world number 1, and boasting the presence of the top two ranked test batsmen and the top two ranked test bowlers in their XI.

Pakistan - 1 test win in their last 8 tests that too against lowly ranked Zimbabwe, ranked number 6, and coming fresh of a test defeat to Zimbabwe.

South Africa were clear favourites. No one really gave Pakistan a chance.

Except for those quietly confident eternally optimistic fans who believed that the UAE always brings about special performances from Pakistan.

It was just last year, in the UAE, that Pakistan had clean swept the then world number 1 test team - England. However, since then Pakistan had been poor in tests. They had lost a series to Sri Lanka, were whitewashed in South Africa, and drew a series 1-1 in Zimbabwe.

Pakistan, who had risen to number 4 in the test rankings, had fallen to 6 this year.

The slide was unfathomable for the fans.

Yet for the quietly confident eternally optimistic fans, it was just a matter of time before those fortunes swung again.

Pakistan might have become poor travellers, but they are a super power at home. They have not lost a single test match in the UAE since it became "home" for them in 2010.

Even prior to that, Pakistan's home record was second to none. They have the best W:L ratio among all teams in test matches played at home.



Pakistan's record in the UAE prior to this match against South Africa was also enviable. Played 12, Won 6, Lost 2, Draw 4.

Despite the fact that South Africa were favourites going into the first test in Abu Dhabi, I am sure that there were others like me who thought that Pakistan could not be counted out.

Yet to achieve a victory like Pakistan did was a big achievement.

Forget the fact that Pakistan defeated the world number 1 test team. Think about the fact that Pakistan managed to bowl out a team, whose batting line up comprised of the names Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, AB De Villiers, JP Duminy, and Faf Du Plessis, not once but twice for less than 250 inside 4 days.

Those 6 names are synonymous with feats like chasing 414 to win a test match in Australia and batting out 148 overs to save a test match in Australia. Two of those names sit pretty at the top of the test batsmen rankings.

The fact Pakistan's 4 man attack bowled them out for 249 and 232 on a relatively good batting surface highlights the enormity of Pakistan's achievement.

Every bowler chipped in. Mohammad Irfan softened the batsmen upfront and got the initial breakthroughs; Junaid Khan troubled the batsmen with his swing and got the prized wicket of Kallis twice in the match; the debutant Zulfiqar Babar bowled rippers and asked questions of the batsmen in every over; and the magician Saeed Ajmal continued to cast a spell ending the match as the leading wicket taker among both teams.

Pakistan's bowling has delivered time and again in the past and it did so again. What made Pakistan count in this match was its batsmen, who stood up to be counted, and almost ensured that Pakistan would not have to bat again.

There are numerous examples of test matches in which Pakistan's batsmen have thrown away the advantage that their bowlers have created for them.

That did not happen this time round.

Besides the two centuries and a solid 75 by the debutant opener, the highlight of Pakistan's batting performance was the running between the wickets. There was assurance and confidence in the manner the Pakistan batsmen ran.

The strike was rotated constantly and there was hardly any time in their innings that one felt that the Pakistanis were embroiled in meaningless defence for prolonged periods.

That allowed them to score at over 3 an over (3.18 for the innings). There were even long periods of the game when Pakistan was scoring at over 4 an over. In contrast, South Africa's run rate in its two innings was 2.67 and 2.80.

Pakistan have a lot to be proud of after this win and there are many feats that they will treasure and take with them into the next test match in Dubai.

1. Khurram Manzoor's 146 was the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in a test match against South Africa.
2. Khurram Manzoor and Shan Masood's 135 run opening partnership was the second highest opening partnership for Pakistan against South Africa. They fell short by two runs of the record partnership, which was between Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat in 2003.
3. The opener's century stand was Pakistan's first after 10 tests. The last century opening stand came 22 innings ago.
4. Misbah, with scores of 100 and 28*, became the leading run scorer in all international matches played in 2013.
5. Asad Shafiq scored his 7th test 50 while batting at number 6. That is now the highest number of test 50s for a number 6 batsman in tests in the past three years (since 1st November 2010). Angelo Matthews and Ian bell have 6 fifties each at number 6 during this period. Asad Shafiq also has 3 centuries at this position during this period; Only Michael Hussey with 5 centuries has more. Asad Shafiq needs 101 more runs to over take Hussey and become the leading run scorer at the number 6 position in tests since 1st November 2010.
6. Misbah became the oldest man to score a test century for Pakistan.
7. Dale Steyn's opening spell of 5-0-31-0 was his most expensive opening spell ever in test cricket.

UAE is fast becoming Pakistan's fortress, while Pakistan is fast gaining the reputation of being Giant Killers. This was their fourth consecutive win in the UAE against the number 1 test team.

Additionally, in the past two years they have managed to:

Beat England (World #1 Test Team) 3-0
Beat India (ODI World Champions) 2-1
Beat West Indies (World T20 Champions) 2-0

This win against South Africa is no surprise. Not for the quietly confident eternally optimistic fans. However, it is one big achievement and all Pakistani should be proud.

Especially Misbah and his men.

Cricout has been in the making for some time now. This year has been big for the website, which provides users an integrated platform to follow live cricket in a social networking environment.

Since the website's launch earlier this year, Cricout has provided online followers of the game an alternative online source to follow live ball-by-ball commentary of cricket matches being played around the world.

The team at Cricout has worked hard to provide cricket fans with that something extra, which includes value additions like:

• A social networking environment where you can interact and share news, pictures, and videos with your friends.
• Cricket experts, who provide their expert views on live cricket matches, who you can follow.
• Newsfeed that provides all the latest cricket news, posts by your friends, and posts by the cricket experts that you follow.

As the website continues to grow, Cricout has released its iPhone application, which is now available on app store. You can download the app from here.

Cricout is a whole new social experience of following cricket online, and the new iPhone app allows you to do that on the go!

It is your one stop destination for live ball-by-ball commentary, expert comments, social interaction with friends and cricket experts, and your daily dose of cricket news delivered in a personalized feed.

Cricout is the new age of live ball-by-ball commentary and a must use for all online followers of the game.

I think rather than wondering how the hell Pakistan lost a test match to Zimbabwe, we should be praising Younis Khan for ensuring that Pakistan came out of the series with a 1-1 draw instead of a 2-0 loss, which was sure to happen had Younis not come out with a scintillating double hundred.

Losing to Zimbabwe in any form of the game is embarrassing for a top cricket nation. But losing to them in a test match is worse than that. The players should find it difficult to show their faces in public. They should find it difficult to speak to the media. They should be at a loss for words. They should feel humiliated.

The upcoming series against South Africa brings this Pakistan test team full circle since Misbah took over in 2010. Misbah's first series as test captain was against South Africa in the UAE in November 2010.

During his first 18 months as test captain, Pakistan did not lose a single test series. In fact in the 15 tests they played between November 2010 and February 2012, Pakistan lost only 1!

Under Misbah, Pakistan's test team had an enviable test record - Played 15, won 9, lost 1.

They won test series against England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh and drew them against South Africa and the West Indies.

The pinnacle of this period was the clean sweep over the number 1 ranked test nation - England, which helped Pakistan rise to number 4 in the test rankings. Their highest test ranking for a decade.

And then suddenly something went horribly wrong.

Since clean sweeping England, Pakistan have not won any test series. They lost 1-0 to Sri Lanka, were embarrassed 3-0 by South Africa, and humiliated in a 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe, which could have easily been a 2-0 loss.

In the 18 months since the win over England, Pakistan has played 8 tests under Misbah, winning only 1 of them, that too against Zimbabwe.

While Misbah's overall test record is still pretty good - Played 23, Won 10, Lost 6 - his W:L ratio has gone down from a record 9:1 to 5:3.

So what went wrong? When did Pakistan become such a bad test team? The same set of players clean swept England. The same set of players helped Pakistan reach number 4 in the test rankings. What has gone wrong?

Pakistan's Test XI against South Africa in 2010 was Hafeez, Taufeeq, Azhar, Younis, Misbah, Asad, Adnan, Rehman, Gul, Wahab, Ajmal.

Pakistan's Test XI against Zimbabwe in 2013 was Hafeez, Khurram, Azhar, Younis, Misbah, Asad, Adnan, Rehman, Ajmal, Junaid, Rahat

Besides an opener and two pacers, Pakistan's test team is exactly what it was three years ago.

In all the test series during the past three years, Pakistan has been consistent with its test team selections. There has been no chopping and changing.

Yet, a winning pattern has changed into a losing one.

Why?

If you take a look at the overall performance of the batsmen during the three years that Misbah has been in charge, it actually shows that they have been quite solid.


I do not think that Pakistan has ever had a top 6 that has been as consistent as this one. Pull out the batsmen averages for any 3 year period, I doubt that any 6 will have given a better cumulative performance over a sustained period.

The bowling has been spearheaded by the world's bets spinner, Saeed Ajmal; and his supporting cast been quite strong.


However, there is a stark contrast between the performance of the players in the first 18 months of Misbah's test captaincy and that in the next 18 months.

The dip in performance of the batsmen is significant.


While three of Pakistan's batsmen averaged above 50, with two averaging well above 60, between November 2010 and February 2012, none of them averaged above 50 during the period between March 2012 and September 2013.

There is a clear dip in form of Azhar Ali, who stood like a rock at number 3 during the first half of Misbah's captaincy tenure. While Younis Khan has continued to be a dominating force even in the latter period, there is a big difference from his superlative performance during the initial period. Much like Misbah.

There are two clear reasons for this drop in performance levels.

Out of the 15 tests in the initial period, Pakistan played 8 of them in the UAE, which even though is not home for the batsman, it is somewhat home and favorable batting conditions. Additionally, out of the 7 away tests in this period, 3 were in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Over the next period, Pakistan played all of the 8 tests in testing foreign conditions of Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Not playing at "home" has not helped Pakistan's test batsman and they have not been able to translate their super home surface success in foreign conditions.

The other reason is scheduling ofcourse.

While Pakistan played 15 tests in 16 months between November 2010 and February 2012, they played only 8 test over the next 19 months!

Cricket is a rhythm game; the more flow you are in and the better you play. There was a gap of 4 months between Pakistan's successful test series against England and their next test series against Sri Lanka.

Additionally, there was an elongated gap of 8 months between that series and their next test series against South Africa, earlier this year.

Then they waited another 6 months to play tests against Zimbabwe.

Such scheduling helps no one. You can blame the ICC or other cricket boards all you want for not giving Pakistan a good schedule as per the FTP, but the only one to hold accountable for this is the PCB.

I understand that Pakistan cricket is suffering because they can't host any team in their own country, but that does not mean that the administrators cannot lobby with other boards to arrange more tours. Especially when the board has witnessed a rise in the team's test performance.

Players like Azhar Ali, who only play test cricket, suffer even more as they are kept away from international cricket for long periods of time. Azhar has been a pillar for Pakistan in tests and a key component of their success in the earlier part of Misbah's captaincy tenure; however he failed miserably in the series against Zimbabwe.

Can you really blame him? He played no cricket at all besides some meaningless domestic ODI games between March and August of this year.

Only the PCB is to be blamed for that.

The fans will continue to cry and complain about Misbah's captaincy, Hafeez' non-performance as an opener, the lack of flair of Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.

But the truth of the matter is that Pakistan cricket is suffering the most because it is not playing enough. It is not touring enough.

Pakistan can't host cricket at home, which effects the amount of revenues the board can generate. That impacts the number of development tours that an Under-19 team or a Pakistan A team can make to gain experience of foreign conditions. A lack of international cricket at home means that players wait for long periods between tours making them lose their flow.

A greater reliance is put on ODIs to generate funds, which impacts the number of tests Pakistan plays. This has impacted players like Aamir Sohail and Mohammad Yousuf in the past, and now it is impacting the careers of batsmen like Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar.

Amir Sohail once hit 205 in a test against England at Old Trafford. The commentators likened him to the great Sir Viv Richards. After that series, Pakistan did not play a test for another 6 months.

Mohammad Yousuf hit the most runs in a calendar year in the history of test cricket in 2006. He played only 6 tests over the next 30 months!

So yes while a defeat against Zimbabwe is sad and embarrassing and humiliating, the players are really not at as much fault as it is being portrayed.

The board, the domestic structure, the international isolation of the country are big reasons for our downfall. The fact that we even manage to win in these times is an achievement.

Hopefully the upcoming tours at "home" in the UAE will bring some smiles back on the faces of Pakistan cricket fans.