Pakistan lined up with four (five if you count Malik) frontline spinners for the final one day international and that pretty much sums up how the shorter formats of the itinerary progressed and how the longer formats are likely to proceed. Pakistan, as expected, recorded victory not only in the solitary T20 international but also whitewashed Bangladesh 3-0 in the ODIs with relative ease and in the process extended their winning streak over the Bangladeshis which now stands at 12 years.
Bangladesh were in a classic Catch-22 situation. By making dust bowls that would assist their plethora of spinners, they failed to take into account the much-vaunted Pakistani spin department and more importantly failed to register the inadequacies of their own batsmen against spin. This meant that while the Pakistani batsmen crawled and trudged to post scores of some respectability, the opposition batters wilted in the face of testing spin bowling.
In the absence of Mohammad Ashraful, much of the batting responsibility fell on the shoulders of Tamim Iqbal but it proved to be a disappointing series for the left hander as he could only manage four runs through the course of the series and even those came in one match. Shakib and Rubel Hossain toiled hard but found little support from both the bowling and batting unit. The only bright spot came in the shape of the 20 year old all-rounder Nasir Hossain, who finished with most runs in the series (124), just ahead of Pakistan’s Umar Akmal (123).
Tamim Iqbal, before the series, had highlighted Ajmal as the major threat but it was Hafeez who caused them the most grief and ended the series as the highest wicket taker with 6 wickets at an average of 8.16. Hafeez throughout the series bamboozled the batsmen with his straight and straighter one. Umar Akmal, deservedly won the player of series award for his two fifties and it was pleasing to note that he batted with some semblance of responsibility and displayed a certain degree of method to his usual madness. More of this in the future and then we could stop talking about him as a potential talent but as an established performer.
The batting continues to be a worry though. Barring Akmal and the stoic Misbah, the rest of the batting unit continues to be inconsistent and patchy. Hafeez may well have climbed up to No 2 in the ICC ODI bowler rankings but his primary job is, or should be, batting and he is still failing to convert those stylish 20s and 30s into anything substantial. Imran Farhat is never likely to be a consistent opener and Asad Shafiq isn’t an opener. Shafiq is a talented individual who needs to be playing regularly and in the middle order, he is unlikely to progress warming the bench and coming in and opening in dead rubbers. Malik’s terrible run with the bat continued and spending time in national colours seem to be doing more harm than good to him.
Victory here means Pakistan have now recorded six consecutive ODI series wins. Things however need to be kept in perspective and while the record appears exemplary, most of the wins have come against lowly opposition. The team along with its supporters therefore need to keep their feet grounded and not get carried away for there is much work still to be done. Winning like we have been in the recent past can inculcate a false sense of security and the players need to guard against this and continue to work on their weaknesses which will most likely be exposed against better opposition. In the meantime though, let’s enjoy a good victory and hope for more of the same from the Test matches. On the evidence of day one of the first Test, with Bangladesh shot out for just 135 and Pakistan openers making hay, this should be over before stumps on day three.
