A miracle is indeed what Pakistan needs right now after the 491-run drubbing at the hands of their Aussie hosts
It is only a matter of opinion as to how one braces himself in situations like a victory or defeat. If emotionally charged, one could be ecstatic or fall into deep depression as is the case for many after Pakistan’s humiliating performance in the first Test at Perth against Australia.
The team, the captain, the cricket board, the selectors and even the game’s infrastructure at the domestic level, all are being discussed, condemned and blamed.
A lot is being said and a lot more will come out if the team continues to slide down the hill, as is the case on the present tour. It is therefore futile to pressurize yourself moaning about it thus sapping your energy in the wrong direction. We must understand here the bare facts that in the near past, unpredictability has been Pakistan’s strength because of the quality of the players that they have.
Cricketers of the calibre like Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal, Mushtaq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Moin Khan, Wasim Bari, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Sarfraz Nawaz, Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim, Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail and Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmed of the old were very much capable of turning the game round to surprise their opponents.
Now, sadly, things are the other way round. The quality is missing, the batting line-up has no depth and the bowling has no penetration, therefore the team is now so predictable, especially when it comes to playing against a thoroughly professional outfit like Australia. Also while watching Pakistan play Australia we must take comfort in the fact that although we have had a number of success on our own home grounds against them including a whitewash in the series, we have somehow been unable to beat Australia in a Test series in Australia in the last 48 years since we started visiting them for the first time in 1964-65.
All we have achieved so far therefore are only four victories in 27 Tests that we have played against them on their own patch. Twice in the late seventies under Mushtaq Mohammad, once in the early eighties under Javed Miandad’s controversial tour and once of course under Wasim Akram in 1995-96.
The first victory by eight wickets in 1976-77 at Sydney owed much to the then improving fast bowler Imran Khan’s efforts who bagged 12 wickets in the match. In 1978-79 it was Sarfraz Nawaz who played havoc with the ball as the Australians lost by 71 runs at the MCG in a sensational finish. Another win by an innings and 82 at the MCG during the 1981-82 tour was the result of solid batting by Mudassar Nazar, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad as they piled up 500 runs in the first innings to give their bowlers a chance to prove themselves. Iqbal Qasim, Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran Khan himself did not let the team down.
In 1995-96, leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed mesmerized the Aussies at Sydney taking nine wickets in the match to win the Test by 74 runs. Especially after losing the first two Tests at Brisbane by an innings and 126 runs and at Hobart by 155 runs, the victory came to all of us as a breathe of fresh air.
Of all those wins in Australia, however, I suppose that the most miraculous, and sensational to say the least, was at the MCG in 1978-79 when Pakistan managed to clinch a victory from the jaws of defeat with the help of Sarfraz Nawaz’s awesome bowling in the match as he picked eleven wickets, including 9 for 86 in the second innings as Australia chased 382 to win.
Having batted poorly in the first innings to make only 196 Pakistan had managed a first innings lead of 28 runs. Graeme Wood, Allan Border, Graham Yallop and Kim Hughes all failed against Imran and Sarfraz and Wasim Raja.
In the second innings Pakistan batted sensibly to make 353 for 9 as Majid Khan struck a glorious 108, Zaheer 59 and Asif Iqbal 44. On the day four Pakistan had declared and Australia at the close on the fourth day looked set for a win at 117 for 2 with Border on 25 and Yallop on 3 and plenty of batting to follow. At one stage Australia needed only 77 runs to win with seven wickets in hand and Pakistan looked destined for another embarassing defeat when lightening struck.
Sarfraz Nawaz, a master of line and direction and that of reverse swing then came into action as he cut and swung the ball in his 33 ball spell to dent Australia by taking the last seven wickets for only one run, finishing thus with 9 for 86 in 35.4 overs as Australia succumbed to an amazing defeat.
Australia were all out for 310 runs despite Allan Border’s 105 and Kim Hughes’s 84 solid runs. It was only for the second time in Australia’s history that a bowler had taken nine wickets in an innings in Australia; the first was after Arthur Mailey’s tally of nine wickets against England. It was a moment to savour and celebrate and Pakistan did that despite their loss in the only other Test of that series at Perth where Australia avenged their defeat by beating the tourists by seven wickets to draw the series. Javed Miandad (129) and Asif Iqbal (134) had made a hundred each in that game.
For Pakistan things are now different on the present tour. Australia on their own patch are overwhelmingly powerful all round. Playing against Australia in their own backyard, and in their present mood, is like walking innocently into a lion’s den where in all likelihood you are bound to be killed. But if lucky enough there is always the possibility that you may be able to walk out of it, but not without being battered, bruised and bleeding all over.
Pakistan’s predicament is now glaringly obvious. So please sit back and relax, and rejoice in the thought of Sarfraz Nawaz’s bowling against Australia in that sensationally exciting Test match.
A miracle is indeed what Pakistan needs right now after the 491-run drubbing at the hands of their Aussie hosts 
