Pakistan played its first international match under the new regime of Misbah Ul Haq against Sri Lanka a couple of weeks back and convincingly won the ODI by 60 odd runs.

They posted a 300+ total on back of a Babar Azam century, a Fakhar Zaman fifty, and a late flourish from Iftikhar Ahmed who looked very promising on his return to the international fold.

Pakistan followed that win with another one, this time chasing down a 290 odd score with few balls to spare. They won it comfortably by 5 wickets and Iftikhar was there once again at the end.

The successful chase was set up by the openers - Fakhar who followed his 54 with a 76, and Abid Ali who impressed once again with a well made 74.

Abid looks like a million bucks in the middle.

ODI series won 2-0 and there was hardly any hue and cry about it. Pakistan extended its ODI winning streak to 7 and no one made any noise about it.

That's fine. It was a second string Sri Lankan team so wins were expected.

But chasing 290 odd is not something Pakistan does often, so I feel it was a great win.

Moving on to the T20s and Pakistan could not have started off on a worse footing.

The first public reaction was to the return of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal to Pakistan's T20 squad. Just this resulted in tremendous amount of criticism for the new Chief Selector / Head Coach, Misbah Ul Haq.

How could he bring both of them back into the team?

Shehzad and Umar Akmal are tried, tested, and failed batsmen at the International level so what really resulted in them being recalled?

For starters, Pakistan's two most experienced T20 batsmen, Shoaib Malik (averaging 44 in T20s since 2016) and Mohammad Hafeez (averaging 31 since 2016) were unavailable due to their CPL commitments.

This meant, Pakistan needed 2 replacements for the squad. But no one expected the 2 replacements to be Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal.

Umar Akmal had not played a T20 for Pakistan since he was axed in September 2016, while Shehzad was dropped in June 2018.

So they must have done something during this time to warrant selection, right? Let us take a look.


AHMED SHEHZAD

In PSL 2019, Ahmed Shehzad scored 311 runs at an average of 51.83 and strike rate of 126.93. He knocked 4 fifties in 8 innings with a highest score of 99.

Shehzad was one of the only two batsmen who averaged 50+ during the PSL. The other was AB De Villiers.

This performance justifies selection in my opinion. But what I don't understand is that while Pakistan's first choice openers in T20s - Fakhar and Babar - are fit and fine and performing, what is the need of an Ahmed Shehzad? And what is the need to drop Fakhar and play Shehzad? And what is the need of playing Shehzad at #3 when all his runs have been scored while opening?

Selection might be justified, but giving him opportunities over Fakhar makes no sense.

UMAR AKMAL
Umar did not even have a great PSL 2019 like Shehzad. He scored 277 runs in 10 innings at an average of 34.62 and strike rate of 137.12.

Decent numbers, but there were many who performed better than this; for example Imam Ul Haq (who is not considered a T20 batsman) and Umar's elder brother Kamran Akmal who was the leading national run scorer in PSL 2019 (behind only Shane Watson).

In December 2018, there was a National T20 Cup played in Pakistan. Umar Akmal played 5 matches scoring 109 runs at an average of 21.8.

Surely this performance does not deserve selection. There was a plethora of local batsmen who were far more impressive than Umar Akmal.

So while Shehzad's case of being selected still holds merit, Umar Akmal's does not.

Both of them however could have proven every one wrong through their performances but their failures in the two T20 losses to Sri Lanka have made them become a laughing stock.

Especially Umar Akmal who registered a golden duck in both games!

Misbah and Sarfraz have to be blamed for selecting them, playing them over the likes of Fakhar, Haris, and Iftikhar, and then persisting with them.

But I feel the reaction from the public has been a bit overboard.

I mean there are people out there calling for Misbah's head over this.

Give the guy a break for God's sake.

Pakistan just won the ODI series 2-0. I didn't see any praise from anyone. In fact no one even discussed the matches.

But the moment Pakistan loses two games, people are out with their knives and guns.

Bit overboard I feel.

The World T20 is a year away. Pakistan will play a dozen or so T20s before that tournament. This is not enough international exposure for new blood to be inducted into the team. There isn't enough time for preparation.

I also feel that Pakistan's T20 team is well set so you don't really need new players.

Shehzad and Akmal were brought back to fill in the shoes of Malik and Hafeez and with the CPL coming to a close, Pakistan's veterans will be back and the two prodigal sons will return to the wilderness.

I really don't think such reaction is warranted over what has happened. 

Pakistan are playing their first series since the World Cup, and while the results in ODIs were heartening, the team has been disastrous in the format in which they have been the top ranked side for some time now.

Before I talk about the series against Sri Lanka, I also want to take note of what happened during Pakistan's off season.

Pakistan got a new chief selector, they got a new head coach who is also the chief selector, got a new bowling coach too who is also the former head coach and former bowling coach, a new domestic structure was put in place, the newly designed Quaid-e-Azam Trophy kicked off, and as always there was an unlimited supply of drama, conjecture, and memes ... 

Misbah Ul Haq at the Helm ...Again!
For 7 years he ruled Pakistan cricket as captain. During that time, Pakistan's Test team reached unprecedented heights, but ODI and T20I cricket suffered like never before.

I feel the same may happen during his time as Head Coach. He is the best person for the job when it comes to Test Cricket, and given the start of the first ever World Test Championship, the timing could not have been more ideal for Misbah to take charge of Pakistan's Test Team.

But we also have two World T20 tournaments in the next two years, and for that I fear Misbah is perhaps not the right man to be coaching the team.

We can ignore ODIs for now as that is what all nations seem to be doing for the next two years.

Head Coach is also Chief Selector
Misbah is not only Pakistan's new Head Coach, he is also the new Chief Selector. This is the first time that anyone has been given this dual responsibility and it makes Misbah the most accountable person in Pakistan Cricket.

Not to mention the most Powerful too.

Pakistan, by all means, has become Misbah's team.

Only time will tell whether this dual role works or not, but in my view this structure has more merits than flaws.

Giving Misbah this dual role has taken away the blame game that has plagued Pakistan cricket for ages. Considering the close relationship between Captain and Coach, they will always get the squad that they want - which is great for Pakistan.

Waqar Younis is Back!
Again!? After several failed stints as head coach and bowling coach, Waqar is back as the new bowling coach of Pakistan. Not sure what Azhar Mahmood did wrong, neither sure of why we had to go back to Waqar rather than bringing in someone fresh.

Waqar has not had a good past as a coach. Pakistan has not had a good time with him as coach.

The only positive out of this is that Misbah and Waqar share a good working relationship.

Hopefully this time Waqar can focus on improving Pakistan's pacers and not worry about power struggles.

The New Domestic Cricket Structure
For 3 decades, Imran Khan has been voicing his opinion on how Pakistan's domestic cricket needs to be improved in order to achieve International success.

All these years, no one implemented Imran Khan's suggestions. But now that he is the Prime Minister, he can ensure that his plans are implemented.

The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's premier first-class domestic competition, featuring 6 regional teams under the new structure kicked off. Imran Khan believed that this format will provide for more quality cricket and will develop better cricketers for international cricket.

I am not too sure that has happened. But what we have seen is a number of tons and big scores by batsmen!

On the opening day, Sami Aslam and Abid Ali cracked unbeaten double centuries. Salman Butt even followed it up with one. Ashfaq Ahmed from KPK has already hit 3 centuries in as many matches, including a 173! International Azhar Ali, Kamran Akmal, and Mohammad Rizwan have both knocked two centuries each. And a number of others have scored tons too including Imam Ul Haq, Shan Masood, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Fawad Alam, Adnan Akmal, and several others.

No bowler has really stood out. Yasir Shah is leading the wicket tally, but he has leaked so many runs resulting in a 40+ average, which at domestic level is quite mediocre. The finger spinners, Zafar Gohar and Bilal Asif have better returns and are a wicket behind Yasir.

Rahat Ali is the only pacer with some decent returns, but I refuse to mention any thing more about him.

While batsmen continue to make merry in the domestic circuit, they have struggled big time against Sri Lanka - particularly in the T20s.

Series vs Sri Lanka
Pakistan's first ODI assignment after the World Cup was a cakewalk. Their main batsmen - Babar, Imam, Fakhar, and Haris - all scored runs. When Abid Ali got an opportunity, he showed why he should be a regular in the ODI XI. And Iftikhar Ahmed, who seems to be the replacement for Shoaib Malik/Mohammad Hafeez, displayed enough potential to get a longer run with the team.

Iftikhar was there at the end in both the games finishing off Pakistan's innings in style.

Pakistan put up a score and defended it, and they also chased one down. Both with quite some ease.

ODIs won 2-0. Job Done. All praise for new support staff and Pakistan who took their ODI winning streak to 7.

Considering this performance, the T20s should have been a walk in the park. After all Pakistan are the #1 T20 team in the World. They have won more T20s and more T20 series than any other team in the past 2-3 years. They have beaten all comers, easily and comprehensively.

Yet, a new look Sri Lanka side has thrashed them in the first two T20s.

Prodigal Sons Return
The T20 series started on the worst possible foot with the inclusion of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal in the T20 squad.

I ignored it thinking that the presence of Babar, Fakhar, Haris, Asif Ali, Iftikhar, Nawaz, Imad, and the skipper Sarfraz would mean that Shehzad and Akmal will only warm the benches.

But no. They played. They played both T20s. They failed in both T20s.

What else was anyone expecting?

Shehzad and Akmal have been around for 10 years now, having made their International debut in 2009. This is enough time to realize that they will never fulfill the potential of their immense talent at this level. It is time to leave them forever in the domestic structure. It is fine, International cricket is not for them.

Had Pakistan invested this much time and  money in some other batsmen, they would be reaping the benefits by now.

I don't know what Misbah was thinking when including them in the squad and then in the playing XI. I don't know what Sarfraz was thinking when backing them. But at least we all know now that it is game over for them. Forever.

With Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez returning from the CPL and available for future T20 series, there will be no place for Shehzad and Akmal anyway.

Iftikhar is a good talent and he has shown in the 3 innings he has played so far that he is one for the long haul.

I hope Misbah has a better time when selecting and coaching the team for Australia !

This article was first published on ARY Sports.

Where do I begin... Right at the top? Sure lets do that.

Persistence with Incapable Openers

Azhar Ali averages 38 at a strike rate of 75; Ahmed Shehzad averages 33 at a strike rate of 72.

Decent numbers if we were in the 90s. We are in 2017 damn it!

Compare Azhar and Shehzad to other international openers their lack of skill, ineptness, pathetic approach, and inability in the ODI format becomes apparent.



























Since the ICC World Cup 2015, Azhar and Shehzad are at the bottom of the pile in terms of strike rates of openers. The only openers below them are a few from Zimbabwe, a couple from Ireland, and one from Afghanistan.

And then we wonder why we are languishing at number 8.

We had one Sharjeel Khan. A world class modern day ODI opener as the numbers in the above table suggest. Unfortunately we lost him to the menace that has been plaguing Pakistan cricket since the 90s.

The question really is, why do we keep persisting with Azhar and Shehzad at the top of the order?

It is clear, by all the rubbish that Azhar, Sarfraz, and Micky Arthur have been talking, that Pakistan want to play modern day ODI cricket. That they want to change the way they play ODI cricket.

When all the talk is there, where is the thought?

Why don't they then back the players who have the ability to play this brand of ODI cricket?

And I will not for one second buy the argument that there is no one in Pakistan with this sort of ability.

Fakhar Zaman is in the ODI squad for the Champions Trophy. He has been part of the ODI squad for a few series now.

Fakhar Zaman had quite an amazing PSL.

Fakhar Zaman has an average of 50.46 and a strike rate of 94.15 in 48 List A matches.

Fakhar Zaman is sitting warming the bench in the UK, while Azhar and Shehzad show the world how pathetic they are.

If you want to change your brand of cricket, you need to change your personnel, starting with inducting Fakhar Zaman at the top of the order.

Sarfraz Ahmed's Batting Position

Sarfraz is a skillful batsman. He is always busy at the crease, keeps the scoreboard ticking, and bats according to the demands of the modern game.

He is a good ODI record too averaging 35 at a strike rate of 89 - just the kind of batsman Pakistan needs.

But why he is batting at number 6 is beyond comprehension.

Sarfraz has been used as an opener for Pakistan. He has opened in List A cricket for his department, PIA. He has batted at 4 and 5 as well under Azhar Ali. And he has been effective in all these positions.

His record while batting in the top 5 is remarkable and in stark contract to his record when he bats at 6 or lower.

In fact, when batting at in the top 5, he averages double of what he averages when batting lower. Both his ODI centuries and 5 out of his 6 ODI fifties have come when he bats in the top 5.

Yet as captain he is batting at number 6.

Pakistan can do a lot more with Sarfraz a bit higher in the order. They will score more than they are doing at present for sure.

Persistence with Wahab Riaz

This one is really beyond me. That one spell to Shane Watson two years ago and a 5-fer at Mohali 6 years ago will forever haunt us.

Poor Shane Watson must also be wondering how he made it possible for a bowler like Wahab to dominate him.

It does not take a genius to realize that Wahab should not be playing ODIs.

He has averaged 47 with the ball in ODIs since the World Cup 2015 and still he continues playing for Pakistan. I can bet you that he would have played again in the Champions Trophy had he not been ruled out due to injury.

Mystery Surrounding Faheem Ashraf

A relatively unknown quantity till his blitzkrieg against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy warm up match, why he was left on the bench against India is also a mystery.

Maybe his bowling is not up to the mark, but his numbers suggest otherwise - List A average of 25, economy of 5.3 and strike rate of 28. How can someone with those numbers with the ball not be considered as a bowler who can bat a bit?

Pakistan desperately requires some hard hitting batsmen in their line up and Fahim Ashraf is ideal for this role. Even if he does not bowl well, we seem to have enough back up in Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.

Why do we only talk big and not take action to back that talk?

Things to do before the match against South Africa

It is high time that Sarfraz Ahmed matches his big talk with some action. This is what needs to be done:

1. Drop Ahmed Shehzad. Bring in Fakhar Zaman to open.
2. Sarfraz to bat at number 4. Followed by Hafeez and Malik.
3. Faheem Ashraf to play instead of Wahab.
4. Get more overs out of Hafeez and Malik.

You know, it may not yield the right results immediately, but at least it will demonstrate intent to actually change the way Pakistan is playing its ODI cricket these days.

Imran Farhat, Shahzaib Hasan, Awais Zia, Imran Nazir ... Pakistan has had a number of mediocre openers in the past. The list is endless.

But there have been none worse than Khurram Manzoor.

Just like Sami has for the bowlers, Khurram has set the bar really really low for Pakistan's openers!

If reports of Ahmed Shehzad being recalled for the World T20 to replace Khurram are true, then I could not have woken up to better news.

Sure Shehzad has had a bad year in international cricket. He has been woefully out of form. However; he did well in the PSL. If Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif can be selected due to their PSL performances then there was no reason to drop Shehzad in the first place.

Despite his recent bad form, Ahmed Shehzad has been Pakistan's most trusted opener, along with Mohammad Hafeez, across formats in past 6 years. There is absolutely no reason why Shehzad and Hafeez should not be opening for Pakistan across formats.

If only Pakistan's selectors smoked a little less pot and paid more attention.

About two weeks ago, Pakistan's selectors announced the 15-man squad for the World T20, which included as many as 5 rookies. Since then the selectors have had a chance to assess performances in the just concluded PSL. Injuries, coupled with a few superlative performances in the PSL, resulted in the selectors announcing 3 changes to Pakistan's squad.

Out went the injured Babar Azam and Rumman Raees, while Iftikhar Ahmed for dropped.

In came Sherjeel Khan, Mohammad Sami, and Khalid Latif.

There were already question marks over the selection of Khurram Manzoor who could not even find a place in one of the PSL squads and with these changes the selectors have raised even more questions.

Sherjeel Khan, who had impressed in the T20 series against the England Lions in Dubai in January, should have been in squad from the beginning. If Ahmed Shehzad was going to be dropped, then Sherjeel was the ideal replacement, not Khurram!

At least that wrong has been corrected and on the back of PSL's only century, Sherjeel is back in favor.

It is the other two selections that are completely puzzling!

Khalid Latif impressed in the PSL scoring 206 runs at a strike rate if 119.07. His highest score of 59 was his only 50 in the PSL.

Good numbers, but it really makes me wonder why the selectors looked at him and not Ahmed Shehzad who piled up 290 runs in the PSL at a strike rate of 143.56. He also managed two fifty plus scores and shone for the Quetta Gladiators, ending the tournament as their highest run scorer - higher than KP, higher than Luke Wright.

It really makes no sense to me.

And poor Iftikhar Ahmed who had to make way for Khalid Latif. Iftikhar has been part of Paksitan's squad for the past 3 series, hasn't got a single game, and now finds himself on the sidelines.

I really want to know what the selectors have been smoking.

Maybe the same stuff that Mohammad Sami has been considering he also finds his way into the squad.

Sure Sami's performance in the PSL was outstanding. He took wickets, he was economical, and he looked as fast as he did 15 years ago.

But he's Mohammad Sami!

This is probably his 11th comeback to the national team. It is the same story all the time. He has been a domestic performer for almost 2 decades now. Isn't it about time that the selectors realize that he doesn't have it to succeed at international level?

Pass on some of that stuff selectors!

After seeking an extension of two days from the ICC, Pakistan finally announced their squad for the Asia Cup T20 and World T20, which will follow the ongoing Pakistan Super League.

The PSL gave the selectors a chance to judge some of the relatively lesser known cricketers, and also monitor the form of the some international players who had not impressed in recent times, namely Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Gul, Sohaib Maqsood, and Mohammad Rizwan.

The squad, sans the four players mentioned above, contains surprises aplenty. Here's a look at why these four were dropped and what their replacements - Babar Azam, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Nawaz, and Rumman Raees - have done to earn a call to the international T20 team.

OUT: Ahmed Shehzad
Afridi's blue eyed boy could not maintain his place in the side after a prolonged period of indifferent form. In his last 8 T20 innings against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, England, and New Zealand, he produced scores of 7, 17, 7, 28, 4, 16, 9, 8. To top that of, his form in ODIs during the same period was nothing to write home about.

His 71 off 46 deliveries against the Karachi Kings in the PSL might have nudged the selectors a bit; however his other 3 innings of 11, 16, and 15 would have further reduced his stock.

IN: Khurram Manzoor
He has never played a T20 International for Pakistan; however his domestic T20 record - an average of 29 and a strike rate of 116 - is quite impressive. He also boasts 2 centuries in the format, something not many other batsmen around the world can stake claim to. Despite this, his inclusion is a bit perplexing given that he was not picked by any of the PSL teams and he hasn't played a T20 match since September last year!

He did impress in the Haier Mobile T-20 Cup in September last year where he was the 4th highest run scorer in the competition, but there were other batsmen that were more impressive in that tournament; namely Faisal Mubashir, Fawad Alam, Khalid Latif, Kamran Akmal, Mukhtar Ahmed, Nasir Jamshed, and several others.

OUT: Sohaib Maqsood
With an average of 13 and a highest score of 37, Sohaib has always looked out of place in a T20 line up. It was surprising to see him in the squads for the series against England and New Zealand. He has been on the sidelines of his PSL team as well, so it is no surprise to see the axe finally fall on him.

IN: Babar Azam
It was high time that the selectors included him in the T20 squad. He has an outstanding domestic record in all formats of the game and he has had a supremely impressive start to his ODI career hitting 5 fifties in only 9 ODIs. An average of over 45 and and a strike rate of over 90 in ODIs suggest that he can translate that form into T20s easily. His domestic T20 average is over 40!

Definitely the right choice!

OUT: Mohammad Rizwan
He is a bit unlucky to miss out considering he hasn't had too many chances to impress. He has done reasonably well in the ODIs he has played; however he played only 4 of the 6 T20s he could have against England and New Zealand. Sure his scores of 6, 24, and 4 in those games were nothing great, but he just didn't get enough chances to prove himself. Even in the PSL he has had only 2 innings scoring 37 and 4. His domestic T20 record is awesome and he is a livewire in the field. Pakistan may have missed a trick by leaving him out of their squad.

IN: Mohammad Nawaz
He has been the find of the PSL. His left-arm spin has earned him the highest tally of wickets in the PSL thus far - 8 in 4 games at an average of 11! The best part about this is that he is primarily a batsman and he has been in fine form for the Quetta Gladiators. He will always be remembered as the find of the first ever PSL that was staged. For him, it came at just the right time. He deserves his place in the squad.

OUT: Umar Gul
He returned from injury after 8 months for the T20 series against New Zealand but failed to impress in the two matches that he played. His form in the PSL has also been indifferent - he has picked up 4 wickets at an average of 35 in the 4 matches that he has played and he has conceded 10 runs an over! It would have been extremely difficult to justify his inclusion in the squad no matter how good his past performances in T20.

IN: Rumman Raees
As if Pakistan did not have enough left arm pacers! It is interesting to see Rumman in the squad ahead of more seasoned campaigners like Gul and Junaid Khan. He has not set the PSL on fire, and he doesn't seem to have the pace to trouble international batsmen; however his impeccable line and length and intelligent variations make him a very economical bowler in T20s. His economy rate in the PSL is only 4.40 and that is what probably impressed the selectors.


Who would have bet on Pakistan announcing a squad with as many as 5 rookies! Check out the odds on Betfred.

The reason I did not mention Iftikhar Ahmed above is because he has been in the T20 squad for the past few series without playing a game. He has had an outstanding domestic season and it would not have been justifiable to drop him without playing him.

I can understand the reasons to drop Shehzad and Gul, but I can't understand the reasons to select Khurram and Rumman. They latter two might be promising players, however a World Cup is not the place to test them. I probably would have stuck with Shehzad and Gul given their experience, but if they had to be replaced then their were better options like Mukhtar, Fawad, and Junaid out there.

Nawaz and Babar definitely deserve their call ups to the international T20 side and it would have been better had the selectors only opted for these two rookies.

There are as many as five players who have never played a T20 international for Pakistan in their World T20 squad, which makes it extremely inexperienced for a world event!

It is good that there will be an Asia Cup T20 just before the World T20 so Pakistan will get the time to figure out their best XI.

Pakistan's victory over Australia in the first test was not just another test victory. It was arguably one of the best test victories for Pakistan ever, achieved on the same day they registered their first ever victory in test cricket in 1952.

Pakistan's margin of victory, 221 runs, is their highest margin of victory in terms of runs over Australia. That is a massive win over the world's number 2 test team.

What makes this victory all the more special is that Pakistan fielded a relatively young and inexperienced team, particularly their bowling attack. Imran Khan and Yasir Shah were making their test debuts, while Rahat Ali and Zulfiqar Babar were playing their 7th and 3rd test match respectively.

8 test matches between Pakistan's first choice bowling attack prior to this one against Australia, and yet they bowled them out twice on a wicket that was criticized profusely for being a flat deck.

We have all seen and talked about how great Younis Khan was in this test. Yes he was, but at the same time there were various other notable performances, all of which deserve mention and praise.



Ahmed Shehzad

The boy is not even 23 years old yet and he has rapidly established himself as Pakistan's first choice opener across all formats. There is no denying that Shehzad will go on to a forge a career spanning another decade and a half and go on to become the most successful opening batsman ever produced by Pakistan.

He is Pakistan's only batsman, and one of 7 in the world, to have scored a century in all three formats of the game.

In just 5 years of international cricket, Shehzad is already level with Aamer Sohail on 5 centuries in ODIs as an opener for Pakistan. Only Salman Butt (8), Rameez Raja (8), and Saeed Anwar (20) have more centuries as openers for Pakistan.

Shehzad scored a brilliant ton, his second in tests, in the 2nd innings against Australia to ensure that Pakistan was able to accelerate and set up a declaration to have a go at the Aussies. He played a chanceless knock, piling on 131 runs, and was fierce towards the bowling as his innings progressed.

Sarfraz Ahmed

Pakistan has finally moved on from a decade of the Akmal mob behind the stumps and have unearthed a gem in the form of Sarfraz.

Sarfraz is having a phenomenal year with the bat, after having an indifferent start to his test career. Just after 4 tests, Sarfraz was written off as someone who cannot make it at the international level. His wicketkeeping was never the concern; it was the batting or rather the lack of it that was.

In his first 4 tests, Sarfraz managed a mere 89 runs in 8 innings at an average of 11.1. The turn of the year, however, saw a new Sarfraz. The world was his stage as he demonstrated his batting ability and made his bat tell all his critics that he was here to stay.

In 5 test matches this year, Sarfraz has amassed 523 runs in 10 innings at an average of 65.4! Mind you, he bats at number 7, and his runs tally includes four 50s and two centuries. During this period, he has also managed a sequence of 5 consecutive scores over 50, and centuries in two successive tests. His last 10 tests innings read 7,74,5,48,55,52*,103,55,109,15*.

In this test against Australia, he top scored in the first innings with a belligerent knock of 109 at better than run a ball. Sarfraz reached his second test century in only 80 deliveries, which is the 4th fastest century by a Pakistani in tests and the second fastest century ever by a wicketkeeper.

Among wicketkeepers, only Adam Gilchrist has scored a faster century than Sarfraz in the history of the game.

Sarfraz' knock ensured that Pakistan posted a total in excess of 450 in the first innings, which set them up for the entire match.

Yasir Shah

Yasir is only the third leg spinner to debut for Pakistan in the past two decades, with the other two being Shahid Afridi in 1998 and Danish Kaneria in 2000.

Yasir has been a top performer on the domestic circuit and has been impressing the selectors for a long time now. Finally he got his chance in test cricket and how he grabbed it with both his hands and shone like a true champion.

Yasir's haul of 7-116 in the first test against Australia gave him the best figures ever registered by a Pakistani leg spinner on his test debut. The previous best was Shahid Afridi's 5-101, also against Australia. The 7 wickets is the second most number of wickets taken on debut by a Pakistani spinner, level with Mohammad Nazir and Tauseef Ahmed, and 1 behind Abdur Rehman's 8.

Yasir's 7 wickets against Australia included wickets of Michael Clarke, David Warner, and Steve Smith (twice!). Those three are Australia's best players of spin, which speaks volumes of Yasir's achievement in this test match.

His bowling effort managed to impress Shane Warne as well, who had been singing Yasir's praises throughout this test match. What better for a young debutant to be praised by the best leg spinner to ever play the game.

Zulfiqar Babar

He doesn't really qualify as a member of the young brigade. Like Ajmal, Babar is a late bloomer and in only his 3rd test, he managed his first 5 wicket haul to ensure a massive Pakistan victory on the final day of the first test against Australia.

In the first innings, Babar snared the wickets of Clarke and Marsh, and then started Australia's slide in the second innings by effecting Warner's first ever stumped dismissal in 157 international innings.

Babar has been around the domestic scene forever and has looked on from the sidelines finding it difficult to break into the international side due to the presence of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman. Now with Ajmal banned and Rehman out of favour, Babar has made the most of this opportunity and stood up to be counted as Pakistan's main spinner.

One can only be in awe of the talent available to Pakistan that despite their first choice bowlers either banned or injured, they managed to put together a bowling attack that bowled out the world's number two test side twice in 3 days.

Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq were the find of the season four years ago, and today both of them are key figures in Pakistan's test team. Over the past season and this one, Pakistan have found Shehzad, Sarfraz, Yasir, and Babar, who have started their test careers with a bang.

We can be quite sure (and hope) that they will go on to become major players for Pakistan in years to come.

While the young brigade has shone brightly for Pakistan, a test victory cannot go by without a worthy mention of the captain. Misbah, despite being out of form and under severe criticism, fought against the odds to find some form and managed the team tremendously well on the field.

This was Pakistan's 13th test win under Misbah, which makes him Pakistan's 3rd most successful test captain behind the two greats - Imran Khan and Javed Miandad - both of whom led Pakistan in 14 test wins.

This victory over Australia was sweet... a series win, which will be a first for them over Australia in 20 years, will be even sweeter if achieved.

With Pakistan's senior citizens and the young brigade in this kind of form, it will be difficult to stop them from achieving that. 

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.

It is not often that men running the Pakistan Cricket Board are praised, because more often than not their acts, statements, selections, and management is so unprofessional that one wonders what these people have done in life besides being friendly with those running the country.