Congratulations to Pakistan for assuming the official number one spot in Test cricket. The ICC rankings havet been around for only 13 years but I can’t recall a time when the nation were so prominent that they could have been unofficial Test worldbeaters, not even in the days of Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas , Waqar Younis or Wasim Akram, Those pesky Aussies or West Indians were usually that bit more successful. Maybe in the late Eighties when Viv’s Caribbean cavaliers were losing their lustre and prior to Steve Waugh’s star men were coming together.
Mind you, I used the word ‘prominent’ rather than ‘dominant’ deliberately. Pakistan seemed to have risen up the rankings so far under the radar as to be flying at sea level. It wouldn’t have happened without Australia’s spectacular collapses against Sri Lanka, or the waterlogged outfield fiasco this week in Trinidad, where India were expected to put the Windies to the sword yet again. Nor of course had England dismissed Younis Khan much earlier in the Oval Test the other week and not allowed Pakistan to draw the series.
All ifs and buts. Just three points separate the top four nations so it could be all change come the winter, but let’s allow Pakistan the time to enjoy holding the ceremonial mace, because they have deserved it. The doubters point to the side’s inability to win in Australia or South Africa. But then ALL of Pakistan’s series are away; they haven’t been allowed to host a series for six years, and through no fault of the PCB.
That is also partly the reason they have played only six series in two years, while England, Australia et al are all cricketed out. Yet of those six, Pakistan have won four and drawn two, defeating England, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh while giving the New Zealanders a run for their money in the desert.
So how have they achieved this historic rise? After the humiliation of the sordid match-fixing affair which led the captain and star bowlers to be not only banned but imprisoned, it looked hard to see Pakistan covering for years. However, Misbah-ul-Haq’s promotion to skipper has been the masterstroke. While his fellow batsmen have struggled for consistency, he and Younis have kept the runs flowing while their blend of seamers and spinners have done plenty of damage with the ball.
In the last eight series, spanning 22 matches, Younis has not averaged less than 48, and his career Test average remains stubbornly above 53. He is also a rarity in that he converts more than half his fifties into centuries and, as England re-discovered this month, is not averse to turning mere centuries into doubles. He is now 38, but his leader is more than three years his senior.
Misbah’s Test career started not long after Younis’s, but he has played a mere 65 matches. Apart from a sensational series against India in 2007, his batting seems to have improved since assuming the captaincy, and is always reliable. He managed just the one century in England this summer but what a vital one it was.
Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and ‘keeper Sarfraz Ahmed often chip in, too, while the likes of Junaid Khan, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz have often stuck to their guns with pace and skill. Losing their ace slowie Saeed Ajmal to the bent elbow police (probably with justification) must have been a blow but they merely introduced another enthusiastic 30-something spinner in Yasir Shah.
Misbah and the PCB have made some great strategic decisions, and Misbah knows how to win. He has even been brave enough to drop the veteran opener Mohammad Hafeez for the Oval, and of course they won with ease.
I don’t know how much importance the fan back home attach to the number one Test status. After all, they languish a paltry ninth in ODIs and not much better in T20 internationals, where New Zealand currently rule the roost. However, I hope it really does mean something because it is quite an achievement. India are either second or third in all formats so their old rivals should revel in being ahead in the five-day game.
Personally I look forward to seeing Pakistan play England in the fifth one-dayer in Cardiff next month. It’ll be the first time I’ve watched a Pakistani side in the flesh since Imran’s team came to Chelmsford twenty-five decades ago and Saeed Anwar stroked a sublime hundred. It would be nice to see Misbah’s team of youth and experience give England an exciting contest, hopefully to decide the series.
