Pakistan seal victory with team effort

Is all well that ends well? Maybe not. But let us take the moment to rejoice in a hard fought victory for Pakistan on the last day. Like the third Test in Bangalore last year, it appeared the other side had succeeded in pulling off a draw at tea on the last day with half the side left. But just like Tendulkar and Karthik fell at the beginning of the last session that day so did Chanderpaul and Powell on Friday and Pakistan got home with Sarwan nursing a fractured toe.

That can of course be put down to the 'Columnist's Curse'. I wrote two days ago that Gul had developed the toe crusher that Waqar used to good effect and there it was on the last day, setting up Sarwan's toe for some unsolicited rest. But Gul will be the first to say that he'd rather have been hit for four than hurting somebody.

In fact he's surely content with the way he's hurt the tourists the most. That is with 16 wickets and important ones at crucial times. To get Lara twice in the same Test puts him in a special league of bowlers. He's bowled with penetration and cunningness and a discipline that has been wanting in most bowlers tried out in the last five years.

And it is no more a one-off. This is second successive time he has topped a series tally after his 18 wickets against England this summer.

What was pleasing was that it was a total team effort on the last day. Pakistan bowled and caught well and more pleasingly were led well. Inzamam has been a defensive captain and proved his credentials further on Thursday when he declared agonizingly late. The pitch was evening out to some extent even though the wicketkeepers were standing embarrassingly close to the stumps while taking the faster ball.

Setting a target of close to 450 runs target on this pitch was like buying onto a locker at Fort Knox for two bits worth of jewelry. But that's what Inzi did with the sole objective of putting the West Indies out of the game and then trying to win it. That it worked in the end is no proof that it was planned that way. But Friday was Inzi's day of retribution for his critics. He placed well his fielders, especially short cover and short mid wicket. He anticipated well the pace of the pitch and the chances that some shots would be played early.

Lara fell to just such a set up as did Morton though he was perhaps set up by his own arrogance of getting away with 16 runs off Kaneria in the over before his ego got the better of him. It was a dismissal which would have made Sarwan turn to his captain with the query: "And you dropped me for him?"

Such rash and senseless batting was not expected from Morton who has displayed a maturity through the year for West Indies . But perhaps it runs in the family of West Indian batsmen new to the job.

Chanderpaul's sustained adhesiveness was crucial for West Indies to save this Test but here is where the Pakistan bowling has to be credited. Kaneria appeared to have listened to his critics who had said after Lara's carnage at Multan that he was not tossing up more variety when not getting wickets. He finished off Chanderpaul with a faster one and finished the series with 14 wickets to have won himself a place in the ODI squad.

Others who have clearly shone through in the Test series are both the openers. Hafeez has been the comeback kid beginning the Oval Test and Farhat has morphed into a more responsible batsman despite his continued temptations outside off. His ranking at No.2 in the batting averages is a high for him as it is for Hafeez with a hundred and a fifty.

And it can be said that Razzaq bowled his reverse swing to good effect in both the innings of the Karachi Test and played a role in getting West Indies tail unstuck both times.

But I feel sorry for Shahid Nazir and if Nasim Ashraf claims to be a fair man he will certainly peruse his omission from the ODI series with the selectors.

Shahid is clearly being victimized and has to be on top of the chairman's list of getting merit back in the selection criteria. In England this summer Shahid was called up for the third and fourth Test after not being given any international appearance despite traveling with the team to India and Sri Lanka. When inducted for the two Tests, he bowled with a testing line and length and was second in the bowling averages behind Asif and above Gul.

He had an economy rate of 3.32 which was lowest among all the specialist bowlers with the exception of Danish Kaneria. Yet he was omitted from the NatWest Trophy and then not selected for the ICC Champions Trophy.

When brought back against West Indies following the withdrawal of Shoaib and Asif, he responded by coming second in the averages with the second highest wicket tally if 11, and an economy rate lower than Gul and Malik.

If the chairman is serious about restoring merit and doing away with the lobby factor, and I can bet you he is, Shahid Nazir's dropping should be a litmus test for his promise to Pakistan cricket.