Daily Times

After a month of some tempting battles with the bat and ball, a roller coaster of joy, fear and anguish, the test series between Pakistan and England came to an end. One would hope for different results, but a true cricket fan would be satisfied with the nail-biting draw between the two competing sides. Pakistan and England both bagged two wins, as a result sharing the trophy and leaving memories in dressing rooms that many players shall remember when looking for a good day with the ball or scoring big with the bat.

The test series between Pakistan and England commenced on July 14 at the historic Lords Cricket Ground. Before the series, the entire buzz was about Mohammad Amir; it seemed like it was more of Amir vs England instead of Pakistan vs England. Once hours passed by and turned into two long days, cricket shaped more into a delightful competition between two sides that were eager to clinch each and every moment for themselves. Coming with an exceptional preparation, Pakistan did not do justice to England at Lords by grabbing a memorable win on day four.

The match was an exhibition of what to expect from many hidden talents, such as Chris Woakes’ total of 11 wickets. Yasir Shah made his comeback after a ban by grabbing 10 wickets, with the highlight being his magical ball to Gary Balance that ripped in from outside off stump and struck the middle stump. Misbah-ul-Haq proved himself as the right man for the job with a beautiful hundred. The long-awaited return of Amir became a drama with some dropped catches, but then he claimed Alastair Cook’s wicket.

England came hungry for a win at Old Trafford by putting Pakistan to shame with some exceptional performances with the bat and quick wickets with the ball. Cook and Joe Root provided England’s scoreboard with a massive total by making two great 100s. It was the ever-so-classy Root who was at his best, showing why he is one of the world’s elite at the moment, with a massive 254 runs in the first innings. Team effort played a great role, leading England to a 589-run total before bowling out Pakistan on 198 with a poor performance except Misbah’s 50.

In the second innings, England declared early with a massive total before bowling out Pakistan with an easy attitude resulting in a remarkable win of 330 runs. England continued with their streak of winning games, until the series entered what might be one of the most exciting battles of the year: the fourth test between.

England batting line-up was jostled down on 328 regardless of 100 by Moeen Ali. What put England back in this innings could have been Pakistan’s pace attack at a high, with Sohail Khan picking up a fifer and support from both Wahab Riaz and Amir. Pakistan came at England with a memorable effort with the bat, highlighting Asad Shafiq’s potential and Younis Khan’s stature. Shafiq touched three figures, but Khan left true cricket fans in awe with a classic double century to prove he is no less than what he was years back in Karachi with his 313 against Sri-Lanka.

England were bowled out at a meager 253 when chasing Pakistan’s massive 542. Pakistan were left on an easy trial of 42 to clinch an easy 10-wicket win, and draw the test series on English soil. Soon Pakistan were to become the number one test side in the world under an accomplished test captain, Misbah (man of the series). The test side reached brilliant heights, but the euphoria was brought down with the One-Day performances.

Pakistan has subtly made its mark in the test world at the moment, but its abysmal fall in the ODIs is truly worrisome. Pakistan were beaten by a hard-working England side in colours, with a series loss of 4-1. In the first four tests, all resulting in a loss for Pakistan, the batting line-up was never capable of reaching the 300 mark, something that is considered normal with the given conditions of the game, and the way the game has changed its path from classic drives to smashing sixes in the crowd.

My sadness wasn’t as a patriot but as a pleasure-seeker of cricket. It left me pondering what went wrong to have such miserable performances from a side that now ruled the test world. First came Azhar Ali’s poor captaincy, and the way he didn’t stand out as the warrior leading from the front in all four losses. The first ODI was a devastating start, even though Azhar stood out with an 81, but his slow effort hurt the run-rate rising the pressure. Sharjeel failed to deliver while opening, and Hafeez did not prove himself as the most experienced member of the batting line-up. Babar Azam, throughout, showed great potential, and Sarfaraz continuously stood out as the saviour from the bottom. England’s batting struck hard with two 50s from Jason Roy, and the young master Root before rain gave the win to England as a gift.

The second ODI again saw the fall of Pakistan’s top order like a deck of cards with zeros from Azhar and Sharjeel and a lonely score of one from Sami Aslam. Shoaib Malik’s experience was of no use with a poor score of 28, but it was the young potential of Sarfaraz with a remarkable 100, and support from Imad Wasim (63) that helped Pakistan lurk to a low total of 251. England tackled Pakistan’s so-called sturdy bowling attack with a classy effort from Root and E Morgan’s demonstration of leading from the front that bagged England another win by six wickets.

England showed their true hunger for success in the third ODI by putting up a target of 444 with four 50-plus scores at the loss of only three wickets. Alex Hales scored 175, Root proved his class with 85, Jos Buttler stood stable with 90, and Morgan again bagged a half-century before bundling out Pakistan’s entire batting line-up at 275. England, already with the ODI trophy under the belt, graciously clinched another win and looked for a whitewash before Pakistan realised the humiliation it had faced and bagged a win in the last ODI. Azhar did help his side finish on a good note, but it was too little too late.

Misbah has proved himself as the right man for the job in the truest form of the game by putting Pakistan at the number one spot for the first time, and giving a sense of dignity to a cricket-crazy nation, but Azhar’s team destroyed it all with an awful performance in colour. I wonder why is it that we sadly slouch at number nine in one-day cricket. Pakistan’s batting is mostly weak in the colourful format of the game with a slow run-rate of 5.38, which is simply not suited to the way cricket is played now.

Pakistan was always known for its vigorous bowling attack, but it did them no good this time. Pakistan’s bowling stats are dismal with an average of 46.37 runs per wicket in the first 20 overs. The economy rate at an average stands out at a 5.61. In the five matches played in England, Pakistan’s bowling on the whole averaged with 53.59 runs per wicket and 6.29 runs per over. Pakistan failed to keep England back by taking wickets, allowing England to casually take the fourth gear in the innings and put up a total that would haunt Pakistani batsmen for a long time.

Such stats have proven to be a damning indictment of how ineffective Pakistan’s bowling has been in addition to the everlasting problem of a weak batting side. Has Pakistan, to date, not found the perfect way to play ODIs? Has it not found the right gear, in between two extreme ways to play cricket — slow and steady in test, and fast and smashing in T20s? Is this the reason that we are stable in the T20s, rule the test format, but look forward to play the qualifying tournament for the next world cup?

The writer is a Lahore-based high school student, and a club-level cricketer