TO win or to compete at equal level in any sport, it is important to have a kind of mind-set which is well-greased and geared up to take up a challenge with all the available resources.

Also needed is a game plan which is well within the control of the athletes along with a person at the helm who not only has the respect of the team members but also is in possession of all the attributes which a good leader of men should have in a team game.

The afore-mentioned ingredients, to a great extent, constitute a winning outfit which is at times also described as a ‘mean-machine’.

To achieve that, it is vital to be aggressive, ruthless and relentless to get past the game plan and those who succeed in that get the desired results and there are several examples of such teams.

In cricket, we still keep on harping on the deeds of Clive Lloyd’s men from the West Indies who were not only first to win two World Cups on the trot but also ruled the roost unchallenged for fifteen years due to their ability to dictate terms whether it was batting or bowling. In the field, they were as much in command with their catching and throwing.

The era in which three ‘W’s’ Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott and Everton Weekes ruled and the menacing fast bowlers like Roy Gilchrist, Wesley Hall and Charlie Griffith fired at full throttle certainly has its own history and background.They were all role models to the likes of Garfield Sobers, Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, the one and only Vivian Richards and later the record-breaking Brian Lara.

Their dominance may not have had such bite and venom if not for the services of a battery great and feared fast bowlers like Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and, of course, the ‘whispering death’ Michael Holding.

The Australians of the Bradman-era with Bill Ponsford and Stan McCabe must have been as strong in their play as were later the teams which Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh led.

The English can also boast of such men who had a firm stronghold on the game with the likes of Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Laker and Lock and Trueman, Statham and Tyson to go with.

All these teams had a great leader of men who carried the mantle of captaincy with honour and precision.

Pakistan may not have that much success in the seventies and early eighties with such illustrious men like Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad, and Sarfraz Nawaz around but they certainly looked a world beating team with Imran Khan in charge and Javed Miandad, the intimidating marksman, as a batsman.

Imran led by example and would tolerate no nonsense as he developed a team which went on to win the World Cup Down Under in 1992.

In later years, in the presence of great fast bowlers of history like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, the story continued. There were role models to follow for them and players of the type of Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed were as much incisive in what they did.

This Pakistan outfit is obviously in the process of developing. Chopping and changes of players and captains over the years has done them no good. And unfortunately they are playing in a period of uncertainty in every direction and the insecurity of not being sure of another series is also their bane.

If only their batting had more muscle and consistency things may have been different.

On the present tour and against world class pace bowling, it has been further exposed. If not for a sensible and articulate man at their helm in Misbah-ul-Haq, their plight may have been even worse than now.

He is a useful batsman to steady things down in a batting line-up which can only be described as fragile and frail.

If only he had the patience of being more thoughtful in times of crisis as Pakistan was when batting in the second innings, Pakistan may have had a better target to set for the South Africans.

The value of play in the arch is always emphasised, that is playing in a ‘V’ and in front of the wicket to minimise risks of being held in the outfield or in the slips if you miss-hit.

Trap was laid for him and he succumbed leaving Azhar Ali to repair the damage.

It didn’t work and Pakistan failed to capitalise, leaving themselves exposed for another drubbing and with it, the series.