Comment: Reality check for pulverised Pakistan

PCB needs to evaluate the contribution of Whatmore who has lost six out of the ten Tests he has coached Pakistan in.

The resounding win in the first Test in Abu Dhabi had raised Pakistan’s hopes of a series win over the South Africans after ten long years.

Openers Khurram Manzoor and Shan Masood surprised the best pace attack in the world with a determined show and the picture appeared rosier than it actually was.

Thereafter, the thoroughly professional Proteas stuck to their guns in the second innings and sent shivers down the spine of the top order that was sent packing before they knew what had struck them. The pacers had made the requisite adjustments in a matter of an innings and in the second Test, the rookie opening pair could not register even a one-run stand.

Manzoor bagged a pair while Masood once again failed to score in the second innings and from the highs of Abu Dhabi, the lows of Dubai made us realise that the cracks were only papered in Abu Dhabi and they remain wide open.

The young Karachi opening pair must have learnt a harsh lesson that cricket indeed has a knack of biting back hard and one cannot afford to rest on one’s laurels even for one match. The South Africans led by their [Dale] Steyn-gun were inspired and didn’t care one bit that they had to bowl in batsmen-friendly conditions on day one.

The spineless 99-run first-innings performance sealed Pakistan’s fate and while passionate cricket fans were hoping for a similar comeback to the one witnessed against England at the same venue last year, they soon realised that miracles are indeed a very rare occurrence.

The bowlers and the wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal caved in against the South African run glut; however the real culprits remained the batsmen who threw away the advantage of winning the toss.

The hero for the Proteas was a bowler whose capabilities at the highest level were under the scanner, to say the least. For many, there was no way Imran Tahir could return to the Test fold after the Adelaide mauling against Michael Clarke and co last year — match figures of 37 overs, one maiden, 260 runs for no wickets say it all.

And here he was turning up for a comeback against a team that has a reputation of playing spin well, and in typical Pakistan way, the Pakistani was gifted a five-wicket haul. It is pertinent to add here that Tahir is not the only spinner who has tainted our reputation of playing spin well — he now joins an exalted company including ordinary tweakers like Nathan Hauritz, Marcus North, Robin Peterson and Rangana Herath, who have all bamboozled the Asians in Test cricket in recent years and led their respective teams to surprising wins.

Tahir’s eccentric celebrations every time he took a wicket in the match were quite amusing and one felt that he went overboard with the cries of being a South African but one cannot deny that he has indeed made a roaring comeback to Test cricket. However, his real ‘test’ would be when he squares up against the Indian batsmen if and when the proposed Test series goes ahead.

For Pakistan, a lot of work remains to be done ahead of their next assignment in the longest format of the game [a three-match series against Sri Lanka].

The Pakistan Cricket Board also needs to seriously evaluate the contribution of head coach Dav Whatmore who has now lost six out of the ten Tests he has coached Pakistan in, most certainly not an enviable record for a supposedly ‘high performance’ coach.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2013.

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