PAKISTAN’S victory over the mighty Australians in the first Test at Dubai has left the game’s pundits stumped besides sending the nation into a state of euphoria.

It was a class act from Misbah-ul-Haq and his team against the world’s number one Test side which was widely tipped to steamroll the Pakistanis in the two-match series being played in the UAE.

The way the tables were turned on the Aussies by a relatively inexperienced Pakistan side was extraordinary. With several problems bogging down the hosts in the run-up to the challenging Test series including the T20 and ODI losses to the Aussies, a captaincy furore that threatened to divide the team, and the absence of key players like Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan, the critics had all but written off the Pakistan side before the contest began. But cricket is known as a game of “glorious uncertainties”, and Pakistan’s win on Sunday vindicated the age-old phrase.

Thankfully for Pakistan, just about everything came together for them in Dubai. The hosts not only discovered the match-winning spin duo of Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar, the erstwhile struggling middle-order batting of Pakistan also found its feet, thanks to the century in each innings by seasoned campaigner Younis Khan who silenced his critics with a truly brilliant display of his talent.

Younis clearly inspired his younger teammates Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed to make it difficult for the Australians and pile up enough runs on the board to enable their team to take a 1-0 lead. By virtue of his feat, Younis also broke former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s record of the most hundreds scored for Pakistan in Tests and now proudly leads the pack with 26 centuries to his name.

The unassuming Peshawar-born player has been the lynchpin of Pakistan batting for over a decade now. However, it is rather unfortunate that neither the Pakistan Cricket Board nor the selectors have offered him his due on most occasions which has been a cause of distress for him.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2014