A victory is a victory, no matter how it is achieved. However, the real triumph is one which is fair and vigorous — clearly separating the winner and the loser. While Pakistan’s recent 1-0 win in the Test series against Sri Lanka is, indeed, commendable considering the distractions of the infamous spot-fixing scandal, the lethargic and at times negative mannerisms of Misbah-ul-Haq and Company has left a lot to be desired and requires some serious scanning.

Though both the contesting teams were more or less reluctant to play positive, aggressive cricket throughout the series, Pakistan must shoulder more responsibility for not taking the attack to the Lankans, thanks to their frustratingly defensive strategy and mindset which deprived them of making it 2-0 in the end.

Misbah and his outfit clearly functioned under ‘protect-yourself-first’ mode throughout the rubber. There were a number of occasions when both the critics and the fans searched for more urgency in Pakistan’s approach which was just not there.

While one fully realises that the Pakistan team is going through a rebuilding stage with the selectors aiming to blood several talented youngsters in the national squad and wouldn’t want to take away the credit from Misbah & Co for beating a professional side like Sri Lanka in the Test series, the lack of intent on the players’ part to play positive cricket has irked the true followers of the game.

The stance exhibited by Pakistan right from the opening Test in Abu Dhabi was ultra-defensive, despite them having taken upper hand during the course of the match. The laidback attitude in batting – as the run-rate hovered around 2.5 mark against a humble Sri Lankan bowling line-up was puzzling to say the least. After restricting Sri Lanka to 197 in the first innings, Pakistan literally crawled to 511-6 decl off 174.4 overs (run-rate 2.92), wasting precious time in the process. The decisive impact of that lethargic display was felt when Pakistan were asked to go for a tricky chase of 170 off 21 overs on the last day and Misbah’s army closed down the shutters from the very onset.

It appeared as if Pakistan never had a plan ‘B’ to consider and always preferred draw as the first option in the Test.

Again, after recording a thumping nine-wicket win in the second Test in Dubai, Pakistan needed to keep up the pressure and strangle any manoeuvres which the Sri Lankans had up their sleeve for the final Test in Sharjah. However, to everyone’s surprise, Pakistan kept shielding themselves and never made any serious attempt to make it 2-0 in the series.

In fact, it was their defensive approach which saw them settling for a face-saving draw in the dying moments of the match, ending their lacklustre second innings at 87-4 off as many as 57 overs (after being set a 255-run target off 61 overs). Had the morning session on the last day not been washed out, Pakistan would certainly have lost the game.

Pakistan’s ‘negative’ attitude in the Sharjah Test pretty much contradicted interim coach Mohsin Khan’s pre-match statement that “we will continue to remain aggressive”.

As for Misbah, one has no hesitation in saying that he never led from the front. The captain is the role-model for his players and his actions speak for himself and his team. Sadly, though, Misbah’s painfully slow batting did nothing to set the directions for his charges.

Misbah, 37, does not have much time in international cricket. He — while maintaining his own batting form — has marshalled a battered set of players with serenity and impressive results (10 Tests, 4 wins, 1 loss, 5 draws) ever since he was asked to do the honours as captain for all the three formats, a rare distinction indeed. What Misbah requires to do now is instill a positive, never-say-die spirit into the team to meet the cut-throat demands of world cricket.