It's funny how the Pakistan cricket team does not just represent Pakistan, it is the actual living embodiment of Pakistan.

Back home the economy is in the gutter, the rupee in a bind, the stocks in free fall and (some) politicians in the slammer. Roughly 1,700 km away, the country's cricket team is only in a marginally healthier state.

Still reeling from its painful Asia Cup exit, the team was given an easy home assignment against arguably the weakest Australian side ever assembled. Victory over a global cricketing giant, even if it is the least challenging version of itself, was supposed to restore confidence and end a two-year winless run in the UAE.

Despite doing most things right over the first four days, the proverbial Men in Green somehow managed to bungle things up and ended up drawing a Test they should have won much earlier and comfortably. In truth, even if the spoils were shared, the result felt more like a defeat.

This team needed Imamul Haq to get injured as Asad Umar wanted the bourse to bleed another thousands points. But Imam's finger, like the economy, sadly is broken. And so the country and its cricket team are on the same line of the same page, mirroring each other's every move, flailing under the weight of expectations and hoping for better days ahead.

With Imam out for at least the next three weeks, there is an opening up top ahead of the second Test, which is likely to be filled by Fakhar Zaman — a Test virgin who is horribly out-of-form even in the shorter format he prefers. He may be lacking in the confidence department, he may not have the technique or the temperament for the longest format, but he is still in line to make his Test debut for Pakistan.

While Zaman's inclusion is almost a certainty, it remains to be seen whether captain Sarfraz Ahmed and co would stick with Wahab Riaz — another misfiring southpaw — or bring in one of Mir Hamza or Shadab Khan, who is fit-again and pushing for a recall to the starting eleven.

With the Asia Cup last month, Pakistan embarked on a near 10-month, almost nonstop cricket season. That start could not have gone any worse with the way things went in that tournament. However, it can still be chalked as a blip and brushed under the carpet if the team wins the 2nd Test against the Aussies starting today and clinches the series.

If the team does not win, however, or if the Aussies win, it will surely be time to hit the panic button in Pakistan cricket. The blip would surely become a full-blown slump then.

Kumail Zaidi is a cricket aficionado based in Karachi.