AT the end of the fourth day, the writing was on the wall that unless a miracle happened Pakistan — still needing 119 runs to win with five wickets in hand — may not be able to get the victory to level the series.

Their only hope rested on captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq, who for the first time in the series looked determined to not only play themselves back in form but also — with a bit of luck — survive the storm which had been threatening them to submission.

Once their record 173-run sixth-wicket partnership ended with a mistimed sweep by the skipper, it put Sri Lanka on the road to reviving their plummeting ranking.

Pakistan’s consolation in this defeat would be the fighting century by Asad, who had been struggling to find form after that century in Brisbane against Australia which was almost a match-winning one.

For a batsman of his type long periods of failures with the bat does not however augur well but Asad, like any batsman of his calibre, has this ability to come back hard as he did while scoring his eleventh Test century.

Sarfraz’s innings, meanwhile, was much important to strengthening his form.

But to win, it is important that not one or two players but the whole team contributes. Pakistan failed in that while the Sri Lankans played to their game plan to win the series. And this must have been disappointing for Pakistan to lose a home series for the first time in a decade since they lost to South Africa in 2007.

But those were good old days for Pakistan cricket when they played their matches at home, before the United Arab Emirates became Pakistan’s home following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.

Sarfraz confessed at the end of the second Test that Sri Lanka had indeed played better cricket and his team failed where they should’ve taken charge.

There needs to be some serious scrutiny now to asses not only the fitness of the players picked but it is also very important that the performance of the coaches and the trainers is regularly analysed and their at times mind-boggling decisions are challenged, such as the assessment of Mohammad Amir’s fitness in this series.

Same goes for the performance of the selectors who have been as erratic in their choice of the players while trying to please those who they think matter for their own survival as selectors.

The truth of the matter though remains that although they’ve had a good fight in both the Tests, Pakistan at least need to admit the mistakes they made in the series.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017