Pakistan ultimately ended up winning both the T20 and One-day International series against Zimbabwe but big question marks remain over poor performances of the senior players — a worrying area for national selectors with a tough series against England right around the corner.

A clean sweep in the T20 series came despite Pakistan posting a gettable total of 136 for the hosts in both games at the Harare Sports Club.

Pakistan were well on the road for another clean sweep in the ODI series but Zimbabwe snatched victory in the second match on the Duckworth/Lewis method before Pakistan won Monday’s third game to wrap up the series 2-1.

Now, though, comes the big test — against England in the United Arab Emirates with the first Test starting from October 13.

And Pakistan would be concerned with their senior players not firing on all cylinders.

Shahid Afridi, the T20 captain, hasn’t been in top form, ODI captain Azhar Ali struggled while Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq and Sohaib Maqsood remained below-par.

With Pakistan set for two major T20 tournaments next year — the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 — Afridi’s form seems worrisome.

Contributing just four runs in the two matches, the veteran all-rounder went wicketless while conceding 49 runs.

Sohail Tanvir, who has been given chance after chance but failed to deliver, managed just two wickets in the T20 matches while giving away 42 runs while Sohaib, who recently recovered from fitness issues, made a cumulative 32 runs.

The future of Hafeez, banned from bowling due to an illegal action, seems bleak as he failed to stand out with the bat — making 17 in the lone T20 he played while managing just 50 runs in the three ODIs.

Opening batsman Shehzad — a regular in all formats — also struggled, managing 24 in two T20s and 44 in as many ODI matches.

Shoaib Malik, however, was one senior player who rose to the challenge, unlucky to be denied a century in the second ODI where he masterminded a superb comeback to put Pakistan within touching distance of victory before the game ended controversially due to bad light.

His 96 not out in that match saw him finish with 161 runs in the ODI series while he was also handy with the ball, picking up four wickets for 68 runs.

Shoaib was also Pakistan’s second-highest run-getter in the T20 series with 50, four runs behind Umar Akmal who topped the charts.

The series also saw some newcomers come to the fore, saving the blushes of the Pakistan team.

All-rounder Imad Wasim impressed with five wickets for 25 runs in the T20 series and followed that up with another four for 60 in the two ODIs he played while Bilal Asif returned with five wickets for 64 runs in the two ODIs he featured in.

With the England series featuring three Tests, four ODIs and three T20s, a hard task awaits for Pakistan in view of the team’s individual performances in Zimbabwe. Both Afridi and Azhar need to rise to the challenge.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2015

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