Pakistan's Test and Limited Overs teams: A tale of contrasting fortunes
Recently, something took the cricketing fans unaware when the Pakistan team rose to the Number 1 ranking in the ICC Test rankings for the first time since these were introduced way back in 2003. In the past 13 years, Pakistan has been only the fifth team to top the ICC Test rankings after Australia, England, India and South Africa. Interestingly, Pakistan attained the title pipping India.
During the same course of time, India had moved to the number 1 spot when they defeated West Indies 2-0 in a 4-match series. India needed to win the final match to consolidate their position, but then weather intervened and the ranking was handed over to Pakistan. For Pakistan, the title was even more celebrated considering its Test ranking had plummeted to number 7, as many as three times since 2003.
Various Pakistan cricket veterans and mentors credited captain Misbah-ul-Haq and said that the 42-year old deserves all the accolades coming his way.
“Misbah-ul-Haq deserves special credit for his leadership through six crucial years (as the Pakistan Test Captain)", Shaharayar Khan, PCB Chairman said.
There is little doubt that that Misbah has been instrumental in the rise of the team, considering the fact that that he took over the mantle of the team when Pakistan was at its worst form at number seven in Test rankings, and were reeling under the spot-fixing scandal.
Also read: Misbah-ul-Haq: The unheralded leader, the unassuming legend
Despite the fact that the Test team is ruling the roost, the ODI team is on the mat, which is indeed very strange. Pakistan, as of today, ranks 9th in ICC ODI rankings and has seen some really humiliating defeats in the recent past. Be it the embarrassing 169-run defeat in the third ODI against England or the recently concluded five-match series loss with 0-3 in England. It has only irked the fans, mentors and the board more. They have eventually lost the 5-match series 4-1, after having salvaged some pride in the final match at Cardiff.
Some former players were anxious after England posted the highest ever One-day International total of 444 for three against Pakistan and walked away with a big win to seal the series. For all this and more, its ODI captain Azhar Ali has been facing the ire for quite some time now.
Though Misbah and Azhar Ali have almost the same ODI match win rate with the former leading with 2%, the actual difference comes in the way of number of matches played (87 vs.13) in 7 and 1 year respectively.
Rewinding a year back, one could say that the turning point for team Pakistan was the announcement of Misbah-ul-Haq’s retirement from ODI cricket after the 2015 World Cup. In a surprising turn of events, the inexperienced top-order batsman Azhar Ali was named the new captain of the limited overs side. Azhar, who had cemented his spot in the Test team, was at all in the fray as far as limited overs team is concerned but was given charge of the team. He had played only 14 ODIs until then since his debut in 2010 and was not in the ODI team since 2013. Thus, now when things have not turned out according to plan, there are bound to be clarion calls demanding some kneejerk actions to be taken.
On the one side, Misbah took Pakistan to No. 2 position on the ICC Test rankings twice in less than a year before conquering the numero uno position, while on the other its ODI rankings were struggling like its team. This put more pressure on Azhar who has now also come under criticism for his slow batting style.
Former Test captain Javed Miandad along with former Pakistan great Wasim Akram has been very vocal about the selection of Azhar being a “mistake” and has been openly supporting wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed for the captain’s post. Doubts over captaincy of the side have started to surface with PCB close to finalizing over a name before the team leaves for UAE for the home series against the West Indies.
It is going to be a big challenge now for Coach Mickey Arthur to replicate his success of the Test matches into limited over cricket, especially with regards to ICC rankings. Pakistan has seen its fair share of ups and downs since 2010 to now enjoy its fruits, at least on the Test side.
Currently, Pakistan cricket is in dire situation as even if they don’t end up winning in the UAE against West Indies, they would be forced to play in the 2019 edition of the World Cup qualifiers and that could be a tragedy, if things are not resurrected.
Nevertheless, the big breather for the team is that it isn’t like the flashy and inconsistent Pakistan teams of the past, and its journey to the top must be celebrated till it lasts.