Big gap: The contrasting fortunes of Pakistan's Test and ODI teams

Published November 24, 2015
The team management as well as the selectors of the Test and ODI squads are the same so why this huge disproportion in the results of the two outfits? — AFP/AP
The team management as well as the selectors of the Test and ODI squads are the same so why this huge disproportion in the results of the two outfits? — AFP/AP

It’s plain as day: Pakistan cricket is currently undergoing a pretty unique phase. In Test match cricket, the team is only second best to South Africa. In ODIs, they are freefalling.

Misbah-ul-Haq-led Test side’s coveted Test ranking is in complete contrast to the team captained by Azhar Ali. Having qualified for the 2017 Champions Trophy by a whisker, they sit at a feeble eighth spot.

Stats sometimes do not present the actual picture, but they do denote stark differences.

Take a look: 2015 has been a phenomenal year for Pakistan’s Test outfit; eight games, five wins and just one loss. In the same period, the ODI team competed 27 times, succeeding in only 12 of those while losing 14.

The 14 capitulations also include Pakistan’s mission at the World Cup, where they crumbled in the quarter-final plus a forgettable 0-3 whitewash in Bangladesh, now the seventh-ranked ODI team. So, the disparity between the results produced by both teams is obvious.

Though head coach Waqar Younis remains optimistic about Pakistan’s ODI future even after the series loss to England in the UAE -- calling the 1-3 drubbing a “learning curve for a young team” -- looking into the nitty-gritty of the present ODI scenario, some grave anomalies come to light.

The Test unit is either free from these irregularities, or has very few and minor areas of concern. And nobody dares to deny that Pakistan’s ODI team selection has lacked objectivity as well as merit. Add to it the baffling chop-and-change methodology in picking playing XIs.

Bilal Asif is the latest example in this regard; with mere 11 first-class matches and 33 non-first-class games to his credit, the 30-year-old was selected for ODI duty against England in the UAE earlier this month. The selection came largely because of his 5-25 against a frail-looking Zimbabwe last month.

The off-spinning all-rounder was then picked by the team management for the first ODI in Abu Dhabi, which turned out to be a nightmare for him. His domestic bowling stats are no doubt much more striking than his batting record. Somehow the management deemed him fit to open the innings. His subsequent failure was not surprising.

Young Babar Azam, an established opener, who has made the senior team through a series of well-earned efforts at U-19 level and holds an impressive average of 46-plus in domestic one-day games, was slotted at No.6 in that very game. Yes, Babar made a match-winning 62 not out in the match but here one needs to see the bigger picture in judging the net utility of selecting a particular player, at a specific time and for a specific purpose; it is the overall strategy of the team management that backfired in the end.

While it was all over for Bilal after Abu Dhabi, Babar was tried as opener in the second and third games, only to be brought down the order (after low scores) in the fourth, do-or-die match when experienced opener Ahmed Shehzad finally earned a call by the team management.

While Shehzad cannot be blamed for failing in his lone game on the tour so far as Pakistan chased a mountainous 356, Babar impressed again with a crisp half-century in the middle-order.

Taking a deeper look, it clear that after Younis Khan’s abrupt retirement following the first ODI in the UAE, No.4 became an ‘experiment spot’.

Iftikhar Ahmed (his selection in the squad is also debatable), Sarfraz Ahmed (an important cog down the order) and Babar were tested at the mighty crucial position in the second, third and fourth ODI, respectively.

There's nothing wrong in experimenting but the trials should depict some consistent approach and direction.

In sharp contrast, Pakistan’s Test camp is a settled bunch and more or less every member has earned his place with very few questionable selections. Consistency in opting for promising players, who are developing gradually, has only given merit its due place and as a result the team’s performance graph has shown marked improvement.

Positions and jobs of players are clearly defined and therefore all of them combine well and face tough challenges as a team.

The culture of calm and collected development without any major controversy on and off the field – and no short-cuts -- has done the trick for the Test guys. No wonder Pakistan, since 2010, have recorded comprehensive Test series wins over mighty opponents like Australia and England (twice) besides drawing two rubbers against South Africa.

It's true that all these achievements have come under conditions favouring Pakistan in the UAE and not in away battles, but it’s a mighty positive omen that Pakistan’s Test team has remained alive and kicking despite no international contests at home since 2009. And by the way, except for South Africa, no country, including once world-beaters Australia, has been able to triumph in away Tests during recent years. So why undervalue Pakistan’s progress in Tests?

And yes, this achievement has not come overnight. While veterans like Misbah, Younis and Mohammad Hafeez have remained rock-solid pillars of the team since 2010, consistent shows by Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed and of late by Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz have only solidified the very nucleus of the team.

The mega contribution of Saeed Ajmal until last year cannot be overlooked either.

Interestingly, the team management as well as the selectors of the Test and ODI squads are the same so why this huge disproportion in the results of the two outfits?

Tests and ODIs are poles apart when it comes to employing techniques, tactics and strategies. Therefore, the selectors and the team management are duly expected to keep several aspects in mind while performing their job.

Needless to say, ODIs in recent years have changed a lot owing to new rules and plethora of T20s. It’s a format requiring brisk and equally solid plans and their timely and bold implementation, something which Pakistan have lacked of late mainly due to poor planning and inconsistent and, at times, unfair team selection.

The ODI format is best suited to youngsters -- of course promising, mentally strong and physically fit youngsters. If Pakistan’s one-day cricket is to undergo a major lift from the current doldrums, the new generation of stars will have a significant role in it.

The Haroon Rasheed-led selection committee and team management are better advised to expand the pool of new players by gradually giving chances to capable young guns. The examples of Sarfraz, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir, Babar, Imad Wasim and Anwar Ali are enough to endorse the worth of our young talent.

It should also be kept in mind that Pakistan’s Test team has transformed into a more or less established set of players, pooled in several years time. Whereas our current ODI party is relatively young and inexperienced, having a new captain. Therefore, they naturally need some time to settle and rise as a formidable force.

However, the culture of making flimsy excuses or verbal pledges after every defeat should now end once and for all.

For a number two-ranked Test-playing nation, the eighth spot in ODIs is being on the knife-edge. A comprehensive and long-term plan – and its visible implementation within a specific time frame -- is the order of the day.

The selection committee and the team management would have crucial role to play in this regard. One hopes they would learn lessons quickly in order to help the ODI team match their Test team successes.

Otherwise Pakistan, once a major ODI contestant, would slide further into a quagmire from where rising again will be unimaginably arduous.

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