LOOKING back at the catastrophe that Pakistan suffered in the shape of their 3-0 whitewash against South Africa with the three-day thrashing in Centurion, one can’t help remembering over and over again the fateful sweep stroke by Misbah-ul-Haq in Cape Town that not only cost his side a golden opportunity of victory but also ensured the Proteas clinch the Test series.
That’s how fortunes, or in Pakistan’s case misfortunes, decide the result of a match. Until that moment of pure madness from their captain, Pakistan had been dominating the second Test at the picturesque Newlands. Misbah, being the decent character that he is, openly admitted that his top-edged dismissal against the spin of Robin Peterson was indeed the turning point of the series.
On an uncharacteristic pitch which was totally against the norm of Newlands, Pakistan ‘felt’ they were playing on a track that one finds in abundance in the subcontinent. Riding on excellent centuries from the experienced campaigner Younis Khan and the courageous Asad Shafiq, who together added a record 219 after the familiar top-order woes left them reeling at 33-4, Pakistan passed 300 for the only time in six innings of the rubber. By stumps on day two, the wily Saeed Ajmal had Graeme Smith’s side on the ropes at 139-5.
At that point in time, everything was going in Pakistan’s favour. It was a great renaissance of a team that had been knocked out by Dale Steyn’s fiery bowling for their lowest-ever total of 49 in the first innings of the series opener at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Somehow, South Africa wriggled out of the deep hole through their most unlikely hero, Robin Peterson who had made only 10 previous Test appearances in the past 10 years. Peterson’s career-best knock of 84 — the 33-year-old’s second half century — allowed the Proteas to end up only 12 runs behind Pakistan’s score.
With the pitch crumbling, all Pakistan required was to set South Africa a target in the vicinity of 230 at least to enable Saeed to exploit the conditions. Sadly, they never got what they really wanted as the pace and swing of Steyn and Vernon Philander, with Peterson also chipping in, shattered their hopes to leave the hosts chasing 182 which they did but not before they had lost six wickets.
Had the team selection throughout the three Tests been spot on, Pakistan could have approached the Centurion fixture with a completely different mindset. It was nothing short of diabolical stuff from the tour selection panel — Misbah, Mohammad Hafeez and Dav Whatmore being the key decision-makers — which left a lot to be desired. It is now no use crying over the spilt milk because the cat is already out of the bag and has long vanished somewhere in the South African safari!
The body language of the Pakistan side was also questionable and clearly lacked the intensity and the insatiable hunger for success exhibited by Smith and his players. Before the start of the series, one can bet that many wouldn’t have even heard of who Kyle Abbott was. The 25-year-old from KwaZulu-Natal, who plays for Dolphins in South African domestic circuit, cut the Pakistan batting to size at the SuperSport Park at a pace which wasn’t as quick as Steyn’s.
The debutant medium-fast bowler’s dream seven-wicket haul in the first innings left the uncertain Pakistan batsmen dazed as they poked unnecessarily at deliveries which should have been left well alone.
The game’s critics and former cricketers, who inevitably do a roaring business whenever Pakistan are humiliated, will be baying for Misbah’s blood while at the same time calling for sweeping changes both in the team personnel as well as the system.
The truth is quite simple and logical: Pakistan were not good enough to beat South Africa this time, particularly with a fragile batting line-up and a bowling attack that, barring Saeed Ajmal, is definitely not world-class.
Test cricket’s top guns have proved their dominance in a ruthless fashion with none of the Tests seeing day five. It is not easy to overlook the stark reality of what had transpired in the Rainbow Nation over the past three weeks. Playing the blame game would do no good to anyone and it seldom does anything than settle old scores. The thinking should be collective with a touch of patriotism for the betterment of Pakistan.
We can easily take a leaf out of India’s book. They continued to persist with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the national captain despite losing eight consecutive overseas Tests in England and Australia from July 2011 to January 2012. It would be a tragedy now if Misbah-ul-Haq, who has played a major role in restoring Pakistan’s image in world cricket in the post spot-fixing era, is singled out as the scapegoat for the massacres in South Africa.
Just over a year ago in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan had completed a clean sweep over the then world No 1 Test side England under the same captain and he is definitely competent enough to take Pakistan out of the present crisis.