Pakistan team has just finished playing its three match test series against Australia. The result was never in doubt that Australia will make a clean sweep of this series. I was amazed and a little amused by the predictions of the so called pundits…before the tour….about Pakistan giving a tough time to the mighty Australians. There is always a very fine line between optimism and wishful thinking, and most of the fans and pundits crossed that line.

To beat Australia in their own backyard is a gigantic undertaking, which leaves no margin for error for the visitors. But ironically we made crucial blunders right from the first step, and were already on the back foot, even before a single ball was bowled in the series. These blunders were made by the selection committee, through poor, and in some cases mind boggling, selection of the players. The selectors overlooked some very good players, with good domestic record, and at their expense picked up a few, who had nothing much to mention against their name. With this kind of absurd and thoughtless selection, disaster was meant to follow.

Batting has always been our Achilles heel, and particularly our top order. In spite of trying innumerable combinations, we still have not been able to find a stable top order, which is no doubt vital for the team to get a big score. The blame lies with the selectors, as they have been guilty of destroying many promising batsmen in the past. The list is a long one, Muhammad Wasim, who did very well on his first tour to Australia, and yet one bad series and he was shown the door. Ali Naqvi, who made a century on his very first innings against the then mighty South Africans. He was mysteriously dropped after that series and has not been heard of again, and now we come to Taufeeq Umar, who enjoys a decent domestic record, as well as some very good performances in international arena on his credit…was overlooked for this series. In my opinion he is the best test batsman from the whole lot of the young upcoming batsmen. In his place Imran Farhat was selected, who has been inconsistent in the past, and is technically not sound enough, to succeed in Australia.

Bowling, in the past has been our strength. But sadly, of late our bowling has also started looking impotent and indifferent. Again the responsibility lies with the selectors…just like batsmen they have wasted many a promising and exciting bowlers. Shahid Nazir, who made a very promising start to his career in England and subsequently in Australia, was dropped mercilessly. Muhammad Akram who on the last tour to Australia picked up five scalps in the only innings he could bowl to the aussies, was dropped. He was accused of being ineffective despite having pace…. well the same applies to Muhammad Sami as well…but he has been a regular for the last three years. The list can go on and on, but the point to prove is that, when you keep wasting deserving players for long…one day you run out of them. This has been the case with or team for the last two years. Pakistan team, which was once renowned for producing exciting young players…and used to be termed as a fast bowler-producing factory…now finds Muhammad Asif leading the attack. It is shocking and unbelievable that we cannot find a single world-class batsman or a good quality bowler from our reserves.

So much so for the selection committee, now we come to the tour selection committee, comprising of the captain, the coach and the manager. Inzamam may be a great player individually, but sadly his cricketing sense and leadership ability are questionable. In the last few series he has been guilty of misreading the conditions, and ending up making disastrous decisions, the classic example is of the blunder he made in the ICC trophy match against the West Indies of batting first after winning the toss. He has been clueless, unthoughtful, uninspiring, both on and off the field. Apart from the brilliant innings he produced at Karachi against India he has not been able to lead from the front. Along with Coach Bob Woolmer, he is responsible for thoughtless, ill planned, and mind boggling selections for all the three games. Selection of Shoaib Malik as a specialist batsman, accepting Muhammad Khalil and Muhammad Asif as back up bowlers speaks volumes about their say in the selection, and their cricketing sense. It will be a waste of time and writing space to write about the game plans for the series, because there was none to speak of. We set off for this journey on the wrong foot and ended up going nowhere.

But as a cloud has always a silver lining, we can speak of some positives, which accrued from this disappointing series. A couple of batsmen and a young bowler, stood out with their performances, from the rest of the squad. Salman butt, the young opener who made a brilliant match-winning century against India, played a couple of brilliant innings. The best thing about this boy is his confidence and the positive body language, which he displays on the field. According to Richie Benaud he is the only player in the whole team who comes out to play with a definite plan in mind. And he was the only one batsman from Pakistan who tried to take the attack to the Australians, though got out twice cheaply while trying to do that but overall had a reasonably good series. He is quite comfortable on his off side but has been found wanting on the on side. The problem with him is that while trying to play on the on side he tries to play every ball very square, because of his wrists working over time and this lands him into trouble when the ball is moving around. Otherwise he is a very good find for the future, provided the selectors do not waste him. The other batsman is Younis Khan, who played consistently well throughout the series reaching forties almost every time. He fell to at times good deliveries and sometimes to loose strokes but during his stay at the crease he looked comfortable and composed. This guy is a hard working cricketer he should be made the captain for the one dayers in place of inzamam. The other standout boy is Danish Kaneria, who bowled with unending zeal and great stamina, and took quite a few scalps as well. He is still young, but this series will go a long way in making him a good and more effective bowler.

The performance of the so-called superstars was unsatisfactory and in some cases poor. Shoaib Akhtar bowled very well in first two tests but unfortunately didn’t receive much help from the other end, other wise his figures would have been much better.

Yousuf Youhana had another poor series. Although he produced a memorable innings at Melbourne, but the way he got out in that innings was pathetic. In the rest of the series he looked out of sorts, and casual in approach. I am not sure he can be termed as the backbone of our batting. He is a minnow basher against stronger opposition he has always failed to deliver. Inzamam, well he only played two innings in the series, scored only a single run, and excused himself from the rest of the series; about him less said the better. Only that he needs to be immediately axed from the team and captaincy, for his disappointing attitude towards the game. Another major disappointment was Abdul Razzaq; this guy has lost it, and as far as his bowling is concerned and in terms of batting also he is a minnow basher against tougher oppositions. This guy should also find his head on the chopping block. Muhammad Sami, was supposed to lead the attack along with Shoaib, he has been a regular member for the last three seasons at least, and has yet to display any performance which can be termed match winning or noteworthy. His bowling is thoughtless, ill directed, and impotent. Despite having pace in his armory this boy has failed to trouble batsmen. He should not be a part of the attack. Shoaib Malik has again been accused of throwing, so his bowling career has been stalled for the moment though quite unfortunately. As he was developing into a very good allrounder, he could not have done much only as a batsman in a test match that too with a split webbing between fingers but he displayed courage and grit in a defiant knock. He needs to be supported in correction his bowling action; he should be a regular in our side both for one dayers and tests.

Three very young players were picked up for the tour. Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Asif, and Kamran Akmal. While Kamran had palyed a few tests before the other two were making their debuts. Kamran Akmal was very impressive behind the stumps especially in the last test at the SCG he kept very well. In terms of batting his tour began on a sluggish note, but found its flow at Sydney where he played a very good innings of 47. This guy is a promising cricketer, and very good keeper and a good batsman. He needs to be persisted with. Now we come to the surprise selections. Eyebrows were raised when this duo was picked up for the tour and as it turned out the apprehensions about them proved to be correct. Khalil in the first test and Asif in the third failed miserably. Though Khalil before the tour promised to be our Irfan Pathan, but he does not possess the same control and the swing of Pathan. He was dealt with ease by the Aussie batsmen. Asif, well as mentioned earlier… it was a joke him being representing Pakistan. This guys neither has a good action nor pace nor control or penetration. Then what was he doing there? Maybe a new year present to the Aussie batsmen. The question to ask from the selectors is. That why Abdul Rauf… Shahid Nazir.and .Najaf Shah were over looked in favor of Khalil and Asif, despite all having better records than both of them? Another guy who deserves to be mentioned is Asim Kamal… although new to test cricket this guy has played some very good innings such as 99 at debut, 76* with an injured arm against India and now a defiant 85 against Australia. This guy along with Salman butt are the ones who display positive body language and look composed at the crease. He has a problem with his running between the wickets but that will improve with time. But he has been dropped from the squad for ODIs when we desperately needed a solid batsman in the middle order. This is another decision, which will prove disastrous for Pakistan.

So all the above-mentioned factors contributed towards our third consecutive whitewash against the Aussies. Now that the tests series is over. and VB series is about to start. We need to devise a definite game plan, contrive new strategies…and pick the right players for the job. But sadly the beginning has not been very auspicious. Again some questionable selections have put us on the back foot. Exclusion of Asim Kamal is a poor decision. He could have been very useful in the middle order in absence of Inzamam. Taufeeq Umar is more suited for test match cricket.. He may not be that effective in one dayers.. Imran Farhat who was selected for tests would have been better off playing in ODIs while Taufeeq Umar playing in tests. But the selections have been totally opposite. Rao Iftikhar has been drafted in… he will prove to be another Muhammad Asif against batting might of windies and Aussies. Again deserving players as Shahid Nazir and Abdul Rauf have been over looked.

Another drastic step of stripping inzamam of his captaincy status needs to be taken. He is not fit enough to play and his captaincy has so far left much to be desired. Younis Khan should replace him with either Shoaib Malik or Shoaib Akhtar as his deputies. According to Imran Khan he has got better leadership skills than Inzamam. In my opinion the following playing eleven will be the best available combination in the circumstances:

• Salman Butt
• Yasir Hameed
• Younis Khan (c)
• Yousuf Youhana
• Muhammad Hafeez
• Shoaib Malik
• Kamran Akmal (wk)
• Shahid Afridi
• Shoaib Akhtar
• Rana Naved
• Azhar Mehmood