Pakistan cricket has finally overcome its home woes. The mid-series drastic steps have paid dividends. A first Test defeat — by an innings and 47 runs — at the hands of England jolted Pakistan cricket. Kudos to those who took bold and unprecedented steps to upend the situation. A recycled pitch was used for the second Test, three top players — Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah — were shown the door and head coach and captain were excluded from the selection process.
The huge punt taken gave Pakistan the much-needed and long-awaited home win. Pakistan had reverted back to the old-age recipe, the winning formula and the silver bullet was found. It was an alchemy of sorts but it’s a far-off thinking that this will change Pakistan cricket pronto. It will take time. More things have to be sorted out. People have to be made more accountable and all those who had put Pakistan cricket on an abysmal path should be taken to task. Why did Pakistan not follow the magical formula of selecting the best spinners and using them to the best effect. Why was it proclaimed that “Pakistan does not have quality spinners.”? All those at the helm of affairs, those who coached the team and captain in the recent past cannot be exculpated.
Every team win two out of three home Tests on average. A team strong at home will challenge the other teams in their country. But if a team lose at home then it is a big problem. Look at India who had 18 unbeaten series at home before being upset by New Zealand. Pakistan had lost just two series out of 11 on their neutral venue the United Arab Emirates and since returning to home grounds, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. Then suddenly it stopped. The Pakistan Cricket Board former chairman Ramiz Raja gave full powers to skipper Babar Azam who presented himself to be a snowflaked — deserving special treatment. Pakistan started to abandon the magical formula and instead of using their spinners to the best effect, employed flat and dead pitches. The specific nature of Rawalpindi pitch gave way to a flat, batting-friendly and grass-less 22 yards piece of land, yielding runs for those who wanted them to strengthen their profiles. Pakistan went against the grain, the winning formula of spinning out those who cannot play spin.
Slowly and gradually the fallacy of nullifying the bowling attacks of the opposition took root. Pakistan lost track. They lost 1-0 to Australia by producing some deadest pitches. The Rawalpindi pitch — known for bounce and helping fast bowlers — was rendered as lifeless as to produce 1187 runs for just 14 wickets against Australia. Pakistan still lost to Pat Cummins’s side 1-0 after Nathan Lyon and Co found ways to get 20 wickets in Lahore. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum combined to use the “Bazball” approach so well that Pakistan suffered their first-ever home whitewash at the hands of England. The worst was a humiliating 2-0 defeat to Bangladesh who Pakistan had never lost to in the past. The same Sajid Khan was discarded on the pretext that his bowling action needs alteration. Noman Ali was sidelined for being over-age.
The same two spinners silenced their critics! They took all 20 wickets in the second and left just one for fellow spinner Zahid Mahmood in the final Test, claiming 39 wickets in the two wins. All those who discarded them were hiding their faces. Even on a doctored pitch, the pair outbowled rival spinners. Besides relying on spin, players were selected on the basis of performances in domestic cricket. Kamran Ghulam was knocking, in fact kicking, at the doors of international cricket. He was given a debut in the second Test, replacing none other than Babar Azam. He justified his talent and the four-year wait came to fruition. He had set a national record with 1249 runs in 2020 but was ignored. Now he has set his foot and should continue to do well on away tours as well.
Pakistan has Talent At All Levels
A series win has given Shan Masood a lot of breathing space. He can now stand up and lead with authority. Pakistan now have a template to win home matches and can be formidable on away tours. Shan has to continue the good work on a tough tour like South Africa where Pakistan have only won two Tests and no series. It would be a challenging tour.
Coming to various denouncements that Pakistan do not have talent. It is absolutely a false statement. Pakistan has talent at all levels. Not only we have spinners in the back up but also some good pace bowlers and young batsmen. It is imperative that we get Ihsanullah, Arshad Iqbal and Zeeshan Zameer fit sooner than later. The trio have been on the sidelines for nearly two years or so. The coaches at the HPC need to groom the future generation of players in game awareness, fitness management and combative nature.
As they say, ‘a victory has many fathers,’ so this must be taken forward like a father bringing up his kids. We need to reduce the huge gap between our first-class cricket and the demands of international cricket. If we do then we can lift our cricket to top standards. If there is a will, there is a way.
