It was like chalk and cheese. Even the most gifted of palmists could not have predicted the complete reversal of fortunes that the Pakistan cricket team experienced in the UAE against England.

After a well-earned 3-0 clean sweep in the Test series against the world’s top-ranked team, a 0-4 drubbing in the One-day International series was an absolute shocker for the Pakistan fans. That was followed by the 1-2 loss in the Twenty20 series and suddenly the heroes from the Test series were now being dubbed as zeroes. But then, this has been the graph of Pakistan cricket where virtually anything can happen!

Misbah-ul-Haq’s brigade were really impressive in the Test rubber against Andrew Strauss-led England, and there’s nothing one could possibly take away from them in the emphatic victories. A similar thrashing of England was being eagerly anticipated in the limited-overs contests. However, what transpired stunned even the team’s worst critics.

The abject capitulation has posed some serious questions and requires objective scrutiny to put things right. The frequent malfunction of the top-order batting and the below-par fielding have been the regular failings of Pakistan team and wasting time and space on that will be quite futile.

The crux of Pakistan’s sudden breakdown in the limited-overs games lies somewhere else. To be specific, two factors top the list of reasons responsible for Pakistan’s dismal outings. First, without a shadow of doubt, is senior all-rounder Shoaib Malik’s abrupt induction into the team, the second being the absurd chop and change policy which led to defeats.

Bringing a player like Malik into the side while knowing fully well how miserably he has fared in the last several international outings, reflected poorly on the judgment and approach of the touring team management, where the captain also had a central role to play.

Malik not only appeared completely out of sorts as a batsman, he left many of his fans astounded with his sloppy fielding, an area where he used to excel like a ‘natural’ during most part of his career.

Earlier, his backdoor entry into the side hours after he was left out of the original limited-overs squad made headlines in the local press. If one goes by the recent media reports, it was skipper Misbah’s profound insistence on playing Malik that triggered the unwanted selection controversy. The move signalled a stark deviation of attitude from the otherwise sobre-looking and controversy-free captain.

Coach Mohsin Khan’s role in the matter is also quite puzzling and he will have some explanation to do for the lop-sided selection during the ODIs and the T20 games.

Prior to the England games, Malik, since September 2011, has had a poor run of ODI scores (2, 14, 2, 0, 17, 0); his last 50-plus innings (128) came way back in September 2009 against India at Centurion, and the player has not been able to even touch 40-run mark in his last 17 outings!

In Twenty20 format, Malik’s batting show is even more alarming (with scores of 3, 33, 13, 21, 12, 7, 11, 2 not out and 2 since February 2010).

And so his poor outings in recent England ODIs (7 and 23) followed by the Twenty20s (39 and 12) only cap the lacklustre story.

Unfortunately, perhaps all this stats was never going to be sufficient for Misbah and Mohsin to keep Malik out of the playing eleven.

Malik’s mysterious recall into the limited-overs side clearly spoiled the Pakistan team combination. The talented Asad Shafiq was promoted to the crucial one-down position while seasoned all-rounder Shahid Afridi was demoted to the sixth/seventh spot. The prolific Abdul Rehman was left out of most games while promising, young all-rounder Hammad Azam was made to sulk in the dressing room throughout the ODI series.

The lack of planning was for everyone to see as the unusually-long batting line-up resulted in Pakistan losing their way in majority of the limited-overs games. Talented yet capricious Umar Akmal’s continued recklessness also left many fans dumbfounded but, apparently, no one in the Pakistan camp had the time or the sense to rein in the youngster in such moments.

One wonders who was really calling the shots in team selection at the Emirates? Is everything hunky dory in the national camp or the spectre of player-power or groupings raising its ugly head once again?

In a nutshell, Misbah, whose Test side had injected a new life into Pakistan cricket by recording a superb whitewash against England, was duly expected to lead from the front, both as batsman and leader, in the limited-overs contests too.

Unfortunately, he failed and failed miserably, primarily due to his and team management’s ridiculous decision-making. It was the selection syndrome which sank Pakistan in the ODI and Twenty20 series and that is the unpleasant truth that has emerged from the disaster.

There are lessons to be learnt here, and fast. Misbah, for one, should seriously think about his future in the limited-overs format. Also, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officialdom, along with the selectors, must take some tough decisions before our team embark upon the Asia Cup campaign next month and must ensure that the Malik-saga does not get repeated in the future.