January 3, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 2, 1426

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KARACHI, Jan 2: It was a topsy-turvy year for Pakistan cricket in 2005. After being humiliated by Ricky Ponting’s Australians in the Test series Down Under at the start of the year, Inzamamul Haq and his men made rapid strides in India and the West Indies.

But the icing on the cake was Pakistan’s comprehensive defeat of an Ashes-winning England late in the year before ensuring the tourists went home in a demoralizing state of mind with Test and ODI series losses.

Pakistan showed marked improvement in the triangular one-day tournament against Australia and the West Indies once fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar returned home midway through the series with hamstring injury and alleged misconduct.

Inspired by lion-hearted bowling from never-say-die Rana Navedul Hasan, Pakistan managed to get into the best-of-three finals where inevitably, Australia prevailed.

Shoaib, not for the first time, faced a cricket board inquiry to explain his conduct on the Australian tour before himself opting out of the India trip.

It was an Indian tour that defined a newfound confidence that Pakistan exhibited in 2005.

Defeat loomed large at close of play on the penultimate day of the first Test in Mohali with all specialist batsmen dismissed. However, in a great rearguard, Kamran Akmal and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq engineered a remarkable escape with a heroic seventh-wicket partnership of 184.

Kamran became the second Pakistani wicket-keeper after Imtiaz Ahmed to score a century against India while Razzaq uncharacteristically held out steadfast with a solid 71 in almost six hours.

Century in each innings by Rahul Dravid and leg-spinner Anil Kumble’s 10 wickets set up India’s 195-run victory in the second Test at Kolkata.

However, the tourists hit back in the final Test by cantering to a magnificent series-levelling victory by 168 runs. The skipper celebrated his 100th Test appearance with a masterly 184.

But it was Younis Khan, the vice-captain, who answered his critics with a marvellous 267 and even upstaged the redoubtable Inzamam in the match-winning partnership of 324. Danish Kaneria took the mantle of chief strike bowler with 19 wickets.

The Bangalore turnaround spurred Pakistan in the one-day series where they turned a 2-0 deficit into a magnificent 4-2 success.

It was Shahid Afridi’s turn to hog the limelight with a brutal century after Inzamam had starred in a dramatic last-ball win in the fourth ODI at Ahmedabad.

Afridi’s 46-ball century in the fifth ODI at Kanpur was an awesome display of swashbuckling batting which psychologically was a knockout blow for the Indians. Rana Naved came of age with a Man-of-the-Series bowling effort that fetched him 15 scalps.

In the West Indies, Pakistan comfortably secured the one-day series 3-0 before losing the opening Test at Bridgetown by 276 runs while Inzamam served an ICC ban for dissent during the ODI series in India.

Inzamam, however, had the last laugh by guiding Pakistan to a 136-run triumph in the second Test at Kingston with another superlative century in the second innings. Younis, too, prospered with a fine first-innings century after his reported bust-up with Afridi in the first Test.

Unfortunately for Pakistan, lanky fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed was reported for a suspect bowling action during the Bridgetown Test for the second time in his career.

Shabbir faced more misery later in the year when he became the first bowler to be slapped with a year ban by the ICC after being yet again reported soon after the Multan Test against England.

Pakistan braced for a tough challenge when Michael Vaughan’s squad arrived just two weeks after a deadly earthquake devastated the nation on Oct 8 but the England skipper philosophically promised to put back the smiles on the hosts’ faces.

England were supposed to prevail over Pakistan in the Test series. For the first four days in Multan, the predictions appeared spot on as the tourists got themselves into a winning position with just 174 more to chase on the final day with nine wickets in hand.

And what a last day it was! Pakistan, inspired by a revitalized Shoaib Akhtar and the wily Kaneria clinched an incredible 22-run win in an amazing comeback.

Pakistan never looked back from there onwards. Inzamam carved a niche for himself with century in each innings in the drawn Faisalabad Test, where Afridi received a three-match ban for pitch scuffing.

Desperate for victory, England were outplayed in the final Test at Lahore for the better part of four days. On the last day of the series however, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood battled their guts as England searched for a face-saving draw.

The third-wicket pair hung on grimly until lunch. But in 70 sensational minutes after the interval, Shoaib Akhtar and Kaneria teamed up to clean eight wickets in 69 deliveries to give Pakistan their first series win in over two years.

Pakistan improved their ranking from fifth in both forms of the game in January to fourth in Test and third in ODI at year’s end.

On a sad note, Pakistan cricket lost Fazal Mahmood, The Oval Test hero, who died of a heart attack on May 30. The nation also mourned the death of Omar Kureishi, cricket commentator and a regular Dawn contributor, who passed away on March 14.