Pakistan, being Pakistan, somehow managed to lose the first test against Sri Lanka in their adopted home of the UAE by 20-odd runs, showing just how impactful the absence of Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan is going to be for the team going forward.
Captain Sarfraz Ahmed remained visibly disappointed, but hopefully will be looking to take lessons from the game to carry into the rest of the series.
Perhaps Sarfraz’s greatest failing was that he captained too similar to Misbah’s style of warry conservatism, or at least that is what the team’s run rate indicated. Going by the old approach, they managed a slim lead and wrapped up the opponents early via the power of spin, but with the two key links missing, the chase was reminiscent of the old Pakistan in its haphazard days.
By the end of Day 3, it had been looking like a draw. Pakistan was slow, less than 3 runs an over slow. But what a lot of people forget at crucial moments is that test cricket, especially on the dry crack-prone pitches of the UAE, have a whole different life on the last two days.
Batting in the fourth innings is always going to be a challenge. Most fans will have missed that when Pakistan took 4 wickets in the twilight of the second last day – all courtesy spinners. Even more, when Muhammad Abbas with his accuracy centric bowling collected two early scalps yesterday and Yasir Shah was spinning the ball all over the place, victory seemed dead near decided.
But Yasir’s five-wicket haul was as much of a warning sign as it was thrilling to watch. Because in the Sri Lankan ranks was lying Rangana Herath, a bowler deceptively accurate who has loved playing in the UAE and especially versus Pakistan – against whom he now has a 100 wickets.
The collapse that Pakistan faced was only too familiar. The first three wickets fell almost instantaneously. Small targets seem to get the Pakistan batting line up of their guard as batsmen returned back to the pavilion after making to meaningful contributions.
In the same pattern, small pockets of sensibility were undone by brilliant bowling and a pitch that looked like it was full of twitching springs.
Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq departed to stellar deliveries – Sarfaraz and the others were seen to by the mounting pressure as an understandably charged Sri Lanka made electric appeals and jumped around a tightly knit attacking field.
It was around this point that the Pakistan dressing room, and especially Mickey Arthur, will have been missing the solid presence of the gigantic figures that were Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan. It was situations like these that the two master batsmen excelled at and were famed for. If they had been around, it would have been smooth sailing.
If the game’s result will have one result, it will be that the team will have some retrospection to do because it does not look like anyone is stepping up to fill the pair’s shoes.
At a point it seemed as if Harris Sohail and Sarfraz Ahmed would manage to see the team through. But it was yet another moment of painful hope Sarfraz fell to the pressure too, charging down the ground in a bid for quick runs and not even turning back to look as the wicketkeeper dislodged the bails, the outcome sealed the moment the ball went past his bat.
Due credit and praise must be given to Harris Sohail, he managed to play along with the tail in the first innings, scoring a responsible 60-odd one would not expect from a man on debut. He showed the awareness and responsibility one would have wanted to see from someone like Asad Shafiq – a figure that will be crucial to Pakistan’s success or failure as a test team.
Harris managed to block out Herath looking unfazed even as he lost partners and continued to milk all the runs he could. His wicket was what practically sealed the deal.
Because no, on that pitch and under the pressure, Hassan Ali was never going to pull of a quick cameo. Amir’s stay was short lived and Yasir could only do so much, which was a valiant effort until the inevitable end came.
While the match proved to be a necessary and cathartic win for a down trodden Sri Lanka, it offers the opportunity for Sarfraz to see that he must change the team’s methodology with its two architects gone.