Test Series - What Happened ?

By Saj
January 6 2005

A look back at the recently concluded test series against Australia, where Pakistan suffered 3 heavy defeats. What went wrong ? What can the PCB do about it ?

Well as most Pakistani fans, even the most die-hard ones had predicted, the test series in Australia finished with a three nil whitewash. A series which from the Pakistani perspective can be portrayed as one which showed hope from some players, promise from others, familiar tales of failure from some and all too predictable fitness issues also. A one-sided series, that barring a couple of good sessions was a major disappointment.

The Pakistan team found itself against an Australian team who were technically better, individually better, collectively better, their captain had a gameplan and showed innovation during each of the test matches and the captain was shown support from senior players who were there to offer advice and assistance. The huge margins of defeats in all 3 tests hide nothing and reveal a huge difference between the 2 teams.

In my opinion a players performance and ability at any level is measured when you play against the best. Make no mistake Australia are the best but the levels of performance by the touring team left a lot to be desired. Yet when one analyses the series, there were periods and sessions when Pakistan proved that they could challenge the Australians. Unfortunately though, these appeared to be few and far between and normality prevailed once te Pakistani team had led their fans into a false sense of security.

Some interesting statistics that I have collated are, in the first test at Perth, the highest score by any of the Pakistani batsmen was 42 by Younis Khan. In the second innings of the second test when the game was up for grabs with the Australians only 38 ahead, the highest score by any of the Pakistani batsmen was 41 by Shoaib Malik. In the last test at Sydney in Pakistans first innings 7 of their team failed to score more than 12 runs and in the second innings 6 of the team failed to score more than 21 runs.

There were 14 innings by the Pakistani batsmen in the series where they were out between the scores of 20 and 45. In my opinion herein lies one of our major problems. After a batsman has scored 20 runs, he should be what I term settled at the crease, be able to judge the wicket, comfortable with the pace of the wicket and be looking towards a century. The nature of the Melbourne and Sydney wickets meant that the Pakistani batsmen who were out between 20 and 45 did not do themselves justice nor the team any favours. The likes of Langer 191 and 97, Martyn 100no and 142, Ponting 98 and 207, Gilchrist 69 and 113 made sure that there contributions were significant and did not give it away just when they were settled at the crease.

The Pakistani bowling, weak as it seemed on paper when the squad was announced was even weaker on grass. Shoaib Akhtar bowled some blistering spells and fantastic deliveries in the first 2 tests and deserves praise for his 11 wickets in those tests, but once again the Rawalpindi express flattered to deceive and in the third test he seemed to be struggling with what was touted to be a hamstring injury. Shoaib is an enigma to fans, captains and coaches alike, superb one minute, frustrating the next, his fitness issues are becoming all too frequent and too often he struggles to complete a full series. I am no medical expert, but to me he is carrying too much weight for the type of bowler he is. As far as his run up goes, I am afraid that he does not need such a long run up, I think part of it is just for “show”. He could in my opinion be just as an effective bowler off a run up that was slightly shorter.

Mohamed Sami picked up only 4 wickets in the 2 tests he played and although unlucky at times, still does not put the ball in the right areas often enough. He needs to work harder on his game, as the promise he has shown in the past is not being fulfilled. He has far too much ability to be another Pakistani paceman who ends up on the scrapheap.

The backup medium fast bowling of Khalil, Abdul Razzaq, Rana and Asif reminded me of an average English county team who have an assortment of bowlers who trundle in all day without much hope or success. I appreciate we have Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul injured at the moment, but surely oh surely we have better quality bowlers than the aforementioned at our disposal? The fact that these bowlers only took 6 wickets between them in over 100 overs bowled again does not hide the truth. Admittedly the backup bowlers to Sami and Shoaib were not expected to pick up too many 5fors, but they could not even keep the scoring rate down either.

Danish Kaneria however can hold his head up high after his performance. He gave his all, bowled with heart, troubled all of the Australian top order, took wickets, bowled with guile and control. With a bit more luck he could have added to his tally of wickets on this tour. I firmly believe that this tour will improve Danish as a cricketer and he leaves Australia with many fans and commentators impressed by his attitude and ability.

Salman Butt is the talk of the town amongst Pakistani fans and why not. I believe that Salman was taken to Australia primarily for the VB series but his early tour form meant that he was first choice opener. He is very much his own man and whilst comparisons with former greats are unjustified at such an early stage of his career, his batting is a joy to watch and reminds me so much of the great Saeed Anwar and the great David Gower. Salman was one of the few Pakistani batsmen who whilst watching I felt was comfortable at the crease against all the Australian bowlers. His 225 runs in the test series were totally enthralling and very entertaining.

Well the Australian test series has provided Bob Woolmer, the Pakistani team, the PCB and all else who care about the game in Pakistan with a barometer of just how far away we are from the best team in the world. Woolmers tone and words are that of a man who is becoming increasingly frustrated with some of the players he has at his disposal.

Captaincy once again comes to the fore as both Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana looked lacklustre, devoid of ideas and lacking a gameplan. Is it time to appoint a young captain and give him license to roam, after the West Indies series ?

My view is that the PCB should not just accept the 3-0 defeat to Australia as it was what was expected. They should look into why so many players are picking up injuries on a regular basis and other fitness issues, they should look into having certain players only playing one form of the game and come up with 2 squads, one for ODIs and one for tests. Obviously some players will feature in both squads, but lately its becoming quite apparent that a number of the current squad are not suited to both forms of the game. The PCB should also look into the domestic game and why not introduce 4 day matches instead of the current 3 day games. The PCB should also admit that whilst ODIs bring in the revenue, the standard of our test team is suffering due to too much one day cricket and only a handful of tests every year.

The way in which the team has performed in Australia has left a bitter taste, the wickets were good out there, the facilities brilliant, performing in front of capacity crowds in some of the best stadiums in the world, yet our team played inferior and sub standard cricket. If they had all performed to the best of their ability, then the series may still have been 3-0, but the matches would have been much closer and not walkovers. The attitude and lack of fight shown was simply not good enough.

The Pakistani team now move on to a form of cricket that one gets the impression that the current group of players enjoy more and are better at, with the VB series against West Indies and Australia. It is a shame that even during test cricket the modes of dismissal of the Pakistani batsmen make you think that you are actually watching a one dayer.

A successful VB series though may temporarily paper over the cracks in the test series defeat, but the long term scars from this series will take much longer to heal.