Whatever went wrong in the Pakistan camp should take nothing away from Jaisuriya and his men, for they made the most of the opportunities that came their way, and never allowed the Pakistanis to sneak back into the game
IN my last column I had talked about Pakistan cricket getting back on track with the resumption of cricketing activities on our soil. Little did I know then that it was getting off-track as well, with the Sri Lankans literally bulldozing their way to a facile victory. Pakistan showed little resistance and appetite to fight its way back into the game once they had lost the initiative on the very first day of the Lahore Test, which also happened to be the final of the Asian Test Championship.
So pathetic was the team’s performance that Inzamamul Haq’s return to form cannot be taken as any kind of consolation, as Captain Waqar Yunus suggested after the match. It was not enough for the team’s cause, a few others had to play around him to make a fight of it. No one did, and the team, as a whole, paid the price.
To begin with, Pakistan had the wrong line-up to take on the Lankans, who had eight consecutive victories under the belt before the match started. And, as is generally the case, almost all of them had owed much to the guile of their outstanding off-spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan.
In contrast, Pakistan preferred to make its own top-ranking off-spinner, Saqlain Mushtaq, to sit it out, awarding a place, instead, to rookie Shoaib Malik. Regardless of who was behind the decision, and why, the decision was fundamentally wrong, and the result only confirmed what was an obvious mistake. While Muralitharan had eight wickets in the match, Pakistani bowlers toiled hard to make an impression on the Sri Lankan batsmen.
As for comments in the media suggesting that the exclusion of Wasim Akram was also controversial, all I can say is that I have made my opinion on the matter pretty clear in the last few columns. I still believe that Wasim is a precious gem that needs to be preserved rather than wasted by making him play Test matches. The newspapers have made much of his performance and fitness in a tournament in which he is representing the PIA team. While talking of his fitness and performance, no one has cared to take note of the fact that he is playing a One Day tournament, and that too against lesser teams, lesser by even our own domestic standards. Besides, his fitness owes much to the fact that he has not played the last four Test matches during which he was recuperating from one injury or the other.
While there is little doubt about his sterling abilities, his body is not responding to the commands coming from his head. Such a time comes in the lives of all sportsmen, and some apparently bitter decisions have to be made. There is no point in being part of the Test team and miss out on the all important World Cup which is due next year. It just does not make sense. Wasim should be part of all One Day teams that Pakistan selects leading up to the World Cup. He remains of immense value to Pakistan cricket, and the PCB should do everything to preserve him till the World Cup.
All this controversy about team selection, however, takes nothing away from Sanath Jaisuriya and his men, for they made the most of the opportunities that came their way, and never allowed the Pakistanis to sneak back into the game. The pressure was relentless, and the home team just caved in.
Whatever went wrong in the Pakistan camp should take nothing away from Jaisuriya and his men, for they made the most of the opportunities that came their way, and never allowed the Pakistanis to sneak back into the game 
