Former Pakistan greats reflect on England series

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  • Pakistan players after the final Test at the Oval.

    The drawn series between Pakistan and England is unique. Not because it passed without the previously compulsory controversy whenever the two sides meet, more for the manner in which it was played and how Pakistan emerged with a share of the spoils.

    It was an epic battle between two teams who have done a great deal of soul-searching in the last couple of years for a number of different reasons. Pakistan were rocked by the spot-fixing scandal of 2010 on English soil and have been rebuilding their tarnished reputation ever since. Meanwhile, England have dealt with dressing room repairs and a number of coaching overhauls in the post Kevin Pieterson and Andy Flower era.

    They have also undergone drastic transformation in terms of their playing style in a bid to catch up with a modern game that looks desperate to leave them behind. An alarming change in the shorter forms came about in the past 12 months, but in the five-day game they are still trying to find the right balance in their batting order beyond Alastair Cook and Joe Root, although Johnny Bairstow and Moeen Ali have papered over cracks.

    The result was two teams on two different wavelengths. Pakistan have rebuilt their bowling attack from scratch after the losses of Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and the bans handed out to Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez. As for England, the search began to replace the likes of Pietersen, Jonathon Trott, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior.

    It has thrown up a conundrum as the dust has settled on the series as to how good a result it was for both sides.

    “If you ask me how do I feel about Pakistan drawing the Test series at 2-2, I would say good that Pakistan cameback from 2-1 down but honestly they should have won this series because England had one of their weakest sides ever,” said former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir.

    “There were too many weak links in the England team and in my view Pakistan should have won this series wither 3-1 or 4-0. Just look at how poor Alex Hales, James Vince and the top-order were.

    “The whole team was dependent on Alastair Cook and Joe Root. England’s real batting started with Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes because they were the ones who were doing real damage while their bowling was ordinary apart from Chris Woakes because both [James] Anderson and [Stuart] Broad looked like spent forces.

    “All the talk about homework from England doesn’t impress me because I think they missed out on few important things. I would have brought back Bell irrespective of his form because he is someone who would have been the best batsman against Yasir, while I would have used Adil [Rashid] in my playing eleven because Pakistan’s batsman struggle against left-arm spinners and leg-spinners.”

    While Qadir was keen to put Pakistan’s achievements into perspective, fellow former great Javed Miandad praised Misbah-ul-Haq’s men for their fight throughout the series.

    “It went from bad to worse for Pakistan in the series. They were on top after winning at Lord’s but losing back to back Tests can take the belief out of you which is why I would give big credit to the players that maintained the self-belief that they can bounce back in the series,” said Miandad.

    “It’s a lesser achievement to draw the four-match series 2-2. I would have been happier if Pakistan would have won 3-1 or 2-1. They were in such a good position in third Test and for 30 minutes it felt like our batsmen forgot batting and we lost at Edgbaston despite it looking like a draw.

    “England had a very good approach because they gave open opportunity to players and now they can’t complain about it. When you identify players and want to groom them, back them till the very last before throwing them out. I feel teams like England, Australia, South Africa are top teams because they make rotation on series by series basis.”

    Miandad reserved special praise for the performances of Yasir Shah and Sohail Khan with the ball, all the while in the shadow of Amir’s return to the scene of his crime six years ago.

    “Everyone was talking about [Amir] but he didn’t do anything substantial. Instead, it was Yasir and Sohail who for me really upped their game when the going got tougher. Similarly in batting, I was really pleased with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq that they proved about having the ability to score in any conditions,” added Miandad.

    “It was a proper team effort from Pakistan with the guidance of seniors Misbah and Younis and the team should be appreciated for the efforts. I feel Misbah and Younis both should continue a bit longer because they are the best players in their positions since Pakistan haven’t groomed any youngsters. Azhar and Asad could take their place but who will take the other two places in middle-order? The PCB should start working on bench strength and new players should be given chance.”

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