Pakistan's limited overs cricket has been lethargic and old fashioned for a long while now. Since the highs of reaching the semi final of the World Cup in 2011 and the subsequent dumping of Shahid Afridi as captain, Pakistan's ODI and T20 cricket has been quite abysmal.

For 5 years, the men in Green have not been able to keep up with the demands of modern day white ball cricket.

The result of all that has led them languishing at number 9 and number 7 respectively in ICC's ODI and T20 rankings.

When a team with that sort of sketchy history does what it did in the 5th ODI at Cardiff and then in the T20 at Manchester last night, it is nothing short of mesmerizing.

First, a successful chase of 300 for the first time outside Asia and the first time against a non Asian team.

Then, a dominating performance to register their largest ever win in a T20 international.

The last two matches have got to be Pakistan's best performances in white ball cricket in about half a decade.

It was pulsating to watch Sharjeel and Khalid Latif slay into England's bowlers. For a while they only dealt in boundaries and made it all look too easy.


The 73 runs that Sharjeel and Khalid plundered in the power play is Pakistan's highest ever score inside 6 overs in T20s.

When they managed a 100 runs between themselves by the 10th over of the innings, it was only the second time that Pakistan's openers had reached three figures at the half way mark in a T20. The last time it was Mukhtar Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad's brutal assault on Zimbabwe in Lahore last year.

Sharjeel and Khalid's onslaught was so good that it reminded me of Ijaz Ahmed and Shahid Afridi against India in Lahore (1997) and Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir against South Africa in Sharjah (2000).

It was a great victory last night to cap a memorable summer in England.

With a drawn test series, Pakistan's first in England in 15 years, and a T20 win, we can safely say that the tour was an overall success despite the thrashing in the ODIs.

The best part ofcourse is the fact that there absolutely no controversy on this tour.

Pakistan did not give the British Tabloids any sound bytes whatsoever and that is probably the biggest achievement of this tour.

Over the last few days Pakistan have shown the world that they can play modern day limited overs cricket. These are surely positive signs for the future, which has plenty to look forward to with the West Indies coming to UAE and then Pakistan traveling to New Zealand and Australia.

More than Pakistan's chances of advancing in the 20-20 world cup, I was concerned about Waqar Younis. The last time Pakistan got knocked out of a world cup in the West Indies, the coach did not make it back home.

Fortunately, things are different this time.

Pakistan's super league stage begins today with their first match against England. With New Zealand and South Africa to follow, the semi finals look like a sure shot but as always, with Pakistan one never knows!

They have not played all that badly so far, but something is missing.

All the batsmen seem to be in good touch, but the bowling, which was supposed to be Pakistan's firepower has lacked the zing.

Afridi, who is one of the most dangerous T20 bowlers, has gone wicketless in the two games against Bangladesh and Australia. What's more is that he has been expensive going at over 8 an over.

That is one of the key reasons why he has not looked like himself in the field.

Afridi has always been the go to man with the ball for past captains; he has always been the one chirping away in the outfield bucking up the rest of the players.

Now as captain, he needs to be doing that even more.

But due to his own below par performance with the ball, he has probably lost some confidence, and in turn his ability to lift his team mates.

For Pakistan to play like the T20 world champions, they need Afridi back at his best. Not with the bat, but with the ball and in the field.

One wicket will do wonders for him, but even if it doesn't come, as the captain of the team Afridi should be concentrating on the bigger picture.

We need more of the flamboyancy that he shows in his batting to come out in Afridi the captain.

That is the only way, we can have a successful Pakistan!

So far, I feel the team selection and the batting and bowling order have not been the best that Pakistan can offer.

The absence of Mohammad Asif and the presence of Mohammad Sami is inexplicable. Surely Asif needs to come back for the Super League games.

Not attacking the bowling with Razzak, something that worked 10 months ago, is also hard to understand.

Afridi needs to be more flexible with his bowlers and less so with his batsman.

Sure Mohammad Hafeez is a domestic star, but in international cricket he is at best an average player. That's why he keeps getting dropped and keeps making comebacks.

His offspin is crucial and can be a potent weapon if used wisely, so he should play but surely not at number 3.

Pakistan is wasting Fawad Alam at number 8 and no one knows this boy's game better than Afridi under whom at the domestic level Fawad has scored tons of runs in all forms of the game.

Give Fawad the number 3 spot and allow him to steer Pakistan's chase or setting of a total; I am sure he will not fail and will do a far better job than Hafeez in that position.

Afridi has been a flamboyant captain at the domestic level and if only he brings that out in the West Indies, does Pakistan stand a chance to have yet another successful T20 campaign.