Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again

Cricket’s return quickly helped the fans forgive and forget Bangladesh debacle

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us

To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side

Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again

Dragged by the force of some inner tide

So wrote Pink Floyd in their song High Hopes. The progressive rock band may have released the song more than two decades ago but it remains more relevant than ever when it comes to Pakistan cricket.

The surprise choice as Misbahul Haq’s heir, Azhar Ali touched on all the right notes when he took over as captain. The team will improve their outdated strategy of posting scores of 250 and depending on their bowlers to defend such totals, he promised the fans.

Then Bangladesh happened.

Cricket’s return quickly helped the fans forgive and forget as Zimbabwe were hosted at the Gaddafi Stadium. After two T20 wins, Pakistan’s second-highest ever score of 375-3 followed, their highest at home.

A new dawn? A false one.

Those who stayed at the Gaddafi to watch Zimbabwe make 334-5 without much ado — led by an inspired Elton Chigumbura 117 — left with an uneasy feeling. A feeling that perhaps so much has been made of Pakistan’s recent batting failures, especially in the World Cup, that the side’s traditional strength of bowling has been compromised in the pursuit of batting utopia.

Zimbabwe should be credited for their effort but questions must be asked of the home side’s bowling. India are the only visiting side to have scored more than Zimbabwe’s 334 when they made 349-7 in that famous 2004 match in Karachi.

The weakest batting side of all full nations managed to make 300 for the first time against Pakistan and crossed their highest score against a Test nation — bettered only by three efforts against Kenya, Namibia and Bermuda.

Let that sink in. There is a list in cricket that now reads ‘Kenya, Namibia, Bermuda, Pakistan…’.

This may seem like an overreaction considering this was only one match but the T20s were just as damning. Amidst the euphoria, Zimbabwe managed to score almost unnoticed their best-ever T20 score against Pakistan in the first match and then bettered it in the second; their fourth and fifth best scores ever. The scores were also the second and third highest against Pakistan at home, after Sri Lanka’s 211-3 in Dubai in 2013.

We had one of the most fearsome bowling attacks in the world. What happened?

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us

To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side

Yes all three matches have been won so far, but all three have been closer than they should have been considering the vast gulf of class in the two sides; at least on paper. There are also plenty of excuses, with several key bowlers out injured, but that is all they are — excuses.

The batting has improved but that has come against an impotent attack, with only one Zimbabwe bowler boasting an average of less than 35 and four with averages of over 50.

Pakistan’s batting is clearly an issue; only 30 scores of over 300 have been posted in the last 10 years. For the sake of comparison, Pakistan’s eternal yardstick, India, have scored more than that in the last five.

But our bowling has always been our strength and improving the batting at its expense will be folly. At the moment, there seems to be a standoff; the better the batsmen fare, the worse the bowlers perform.

Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again

Dragged by the force of some inner tide

And so Pakistan cricket stands at a crossroad and it must choose its path wisely. In trying to emulate other teams, it cannot let go of its own identity; its deadly reverse-swinging yorkers, its doosras and googlies, its ferocious fast-bowlers and its bamboozling spinners.

Azhar and Waqar Younis must decide where they are taking Pakistan. Perhaps one day our batsmen may be as feared as our bowlers have been over the years. After all, the next few lines of High Hopes do go:

At a higher altitude with flag unfurled

We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world