The mood is sombre, and everybody knows the details. All that pining, those fantasies of crushing victories and fighting draws, fourth innings double-hundreds, blazing five-fors and ten-fors — it has all come to naught. Yet another Test series against Australia has seen Pakistan swept cleanly aside.
Fans are groping for ways to cope with their despair. Many people have announced they will stop following Pakistan cricket forthwith. You can't blame them. Frustrations have to be vented somehow, and one does what one can. What you would really like to do is hold Kamran Akmal by the ears and Mohammad Yousuf by the scruff of the neck, but such actions are easier said than done.
In the end it proved to be a memorable series, but for all the wrong reasons. The Sydney Test, where Australia won from being 206 behind on the first innings, will live for a long time as Pakistan's biggest cricket embarrassment.
Cricket Australia has already issued commemorative memorabilia celebrating it as Australia's greatest Test win. Harsha Bhogle writing on Cricinfo said the disaster exposed Pakistan's pathetic work ethic. Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald said the implosion was ugly and difficult to watch.
One dear friend of mine, a kind-hearted doctor who becomes a mocking sceptic when it comes to Pakistan cricket, urged me not to bring up the Sydney Test. “Except,” he said, as an afterthought. Except what? “Except Kamran Akmal's dropped catches, the casual technique of our middle order, and Mohammad Yousuf's abysmal tactical failure — those things you can talk about.”
In fact, we don't have a choice, do we?
Test wicketkeepers don't drop catches. If they do, they are no longer in the side. Kamran Akmal's failure with the gloves was bad enough, but his failure to grasp the straightforward logic that selection should be performance-based is what really takes the breath away. After an amateur display in the second Test he still insisted he should be retained for the next match. The PCB promptly flew in Akmal's replacement, the much-praised Sarfraz Ahmed from Karachi, but Akmal remained defiant. In essence, Kamran Akmal was saying that his failure should not be held against him. He has been a valuable player who has served his country well in the past, but there is no excuse for such glaring misconduct. One hopes it will receive a fitting punishment.
Pakistan's batting was always expected to be problematic. Younis Khan was missing, Misbah was off-colour, and there hadn't been a steady opening pair in a while. But even Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal, Pakistan's two best batsmen and the pillars of the batting line-up failed when it mattered. Yousuf had scores of 22, 61, 46, 19, 7 and 23, while the vaunted and widely hailed Umar recorded 51, 27, 49, 49, 8, and 15 — when hundreds and double-hundreds were expected from both. When pressed for an explanation, Yousuf put the blame on the rise of Twenty20 cricket, which is a fine scapegoat, but little more.
Whatever little batting joy there was came from unexpected segments. Pakistan's opening partnerships in the three Tests were 26, 18, 109, 34, 63, and 11 — not much to make a fuss about, but certainly not bad considering Pakistan's perennial opening troubles. Indeed, it was one of the openers — Salman Butt — who was Pakistan's only centurion. The other surprising pleasure was to see a struggling youngster like Khurram Manzoor fight it out for a dogged 77 as the innings collapsed around him in the last innings at Hobart. He may have played an atrocious shot in the first innings but in the second he excelled amid heavy odds; he deserves an extended Test run and a re-look for the ODIs.
Ultimately, the failure in Australia is Mohammad Yousuf's to own. He was the best batsman and the captain but he wilted. Even schoolboy captains would not have set the defeatist field that he configured on that fateful fourth morning in Sydney. Yousuf may be capable of the most silken and sublime batting strokes, but as a leader he is simply not good enough.
As always, after such a public shellacking there will be calls for heads to roll. The PCB chief and the national coach might manage to hang to theirs, but there can be little doubt that Yousuf's captaincy is living on borrowed time. In replacing Yousuf, there is an opportunity to make a truly meaningful gesture that sets a determined tone for the days ahead. Pakistan is fortunate to have just the right man for these challenging circumstances, and his name is Shahid Afridi. With Yousuf discredited, Younus emotionally shattered and the vice-captain Kamran Akmal a laughing stock, the nation now turns its tired eyes towards this talented and capable cricketer who is feared around the world.
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