Unpredictable is a word that is commonly used with the Pakistan cricket team, and the 2-0 series win against Australia just added to that legend.
This was the team that looked so out of sorts in losing all their One-Day Internationals and the Twenty20 match, many thought it would be a surprise if they took Australia to the fourth day of the Test matches.
Their batsmen were in all kinds of trouble reading the spin of Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell in the ODIs. And of course, Mitchell Johnson’s express pace was not making life any easier.
Most importantly, they went into the Test series with a combined bowling experience of eight Test matches between Rahat Ali (6), Zulfiqar Babar (2), Imran Khan (debutant) and Nasir Shah (debutant). They were without their world No1 spinner Saeed Ajmal, and two frontline pacemen, Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz.
Surely an Australian side packed with such star batsmen as David Warner, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith would take them to the cleaners.
What did Australia have for lunch? Three wickets gone in 13 balls and they are now 238-8. #PakvAus360
— Joy Chakravarty (@TheJoyofGolf) November 3, 2014
Then there was the big question mark about the leader himself. Misbah-ul Haq was apparently facing a crisis of confidence and form when he sat himself out from the third ODI. And as if that wasn’t enough, there were also reports from Pakistan regarding his bank accounts being frozen for allegedly evading taxes on the eve of the Test matches.
The first 15 minutes of the Dubai Test, when they slipped to 7-2, was the only phase of the entire series where Pakistan looked predictable. But once Younis Khan went out and joined Azhar Ali and survived that first session, the team never looked back. They won just about every session from there on.
It’s difficult to find out one reason for this turnaround – but that’s because there are 11 great reasons. There were fantastic individual performances, led by the brilliant batting displays from Younis, Azhar and Misbah, but what really worked for Pakistan is that each and every member contributed towards the team cause.
The bowlers bowled to a plan and exploited the conditions better than their Australian counterparts. They may have been an inexperienced pack, but all of them have played enough first-class cricket to know what needed to be done. Babar and Shah captured 26 out of the 40 wickets, while the pacemen and Mohammad Hafeez provided vital breakthroughs when required.
The batsmen were something else. Of the 10 centuries scored in the series, nine were by Pakistan. They got over their pre-series jitters against the Aussie spinners by playing them aggressively, and countered the short spells of Johnson by being cautious. The toss did play a big role, but Pakistan batsmen needed to capitalise on Misbah’s good luck, and they did it in style in both the Test matches.
It also helped the Pakistani cause that Australia were sloppy in all departments. Their famed fielding skills were nowhere to be seen in this series. In the two Tests, they dropped close to a dozen chances and that was just sacrilege.
The key for Pakistan now is to ensure that they somehow take this momentum through the New Zealand series and then on to the World Cup. And if they can make their fans as happy with their performances Down Under as they did here, that would be their greatest achievement.
