It is nothing unusual to find a new senior leader seeking to reverse the signature achievements of his or her predecessor. The 45th President of the USA has made no secret of his desire to reverse the major domestic (Obamacare) and foreign policy (Iran) achievements of his predecessor.
Pakistan cricket is in a similar position now with Misbah-ul-Haq. He reigned over Pakistan cricket as national team skipper from 2010 to 2017, and himself had a number of signature practices, including a preference for selecting veterans and a reluctance to select all-rounders unless they are "as good at batting or bowling as a specialist".
There was an uneasy period of cohabitation for a year from June 2016, after Mickey Arthur was appointed as national team coach. In cricket the captain has seniority over the coach, and Misbah largely prevailed during that period in terms of retaining the older players with whom he felt more confident, and with all-rounders still effectively excluded.
Then, from mid-2017 to mid-2019 Mickey Arthur became more powerful when Misbah retired.
I don’t think that anyone would argue that Mickey Arthur had strategies for selection and play in Asia that were as effective as Misbah’s. But outside Asia he did fairly well, and he certainly favoured youth over experience and he also made a point of seeking to incorporate all-rounders in his Test team. He was well aware that, like yesterday, Pakistan all too often falls to positions like 94-5, and he deliberately bolstered the lower middle-order with players like Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf.
Consider the following sequence of four Tests outside Asia in which Mickey Arthur fielded Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf as twin all-rounders.
Ireland away
Pakistan fell to 153-5. Then Shadab hit 55 and Faheem hit 83 to lift them to 310-9 declared, and they won the Test.
England at Lords
Pakistan was 227-5, and then Babar Azam – the last specialist batsman – broke his arm at 246-5. Shadab scored 52 and Faheem hit 37 to lift Pakistan to a matchwinning 363 all out.
England at Leeds
Pakistan fell to 79-7, before Shadab’s 56 lifted them to 174 all out.
South Africa at Johannesburg
When Pakistan bowled, Yasir Shah took 4 wickets (Yasir Shah had taken 1 in the first 2 Tests) and Faheem Ashraf too 6 wickets.
When Pakistan batted, both failed in the First Innings. In the Second Innings Shadab entered at 162-5, and his 52 not out lifted them to 274 all out.
It seems clear that Pakistan’s fragile batting benefitted outside Asia from having Shadab Khan at 7 and Faheem Ashraf at 8. But their selection was itself a reversal of Misbah’s anti-all-rounder policy, and no sooner did he return to power as both Chief Selector and Head Coach than both were discarded, not just from the team but even from the squad.
In the case of Shadab, Pakistan fell to 240 all out in the First Test in Australia on the day that Shadab took 5 wickets for 73 in his first match back in domestic cricket.
Time and again we see Misbah reversing Mickey Arthur’s reforms.
In the previous Test, in similar conditions in Johannesburg, Imam-ul-Haq scored 43 and 35. As soon as Misbah regained power he was dropped for Haris Sohail, who is in dreadful form, is an inferior fielder and is 30 years old whereas Imam is just 23.
Misbah had managed to keep Mohammad Abbas out of the Test side until the age of 27, and he made his debut just a month before Misbah retired. A vast collection of older and inferior fast bowlers played instead of Abbas during Misbah’s career. Even in the final year of Misbah’s career both the lumbering Imran Khan and Sohail Khan were repeatedly preferred over Abbas.
So let’s consider who Misbah has discarded at the start of his Test reign:
Imam-ul-Haq discarded in favour of Haris Sohail.
Shadab Khan, discarded in favour of Yasir Shah, in spite of having outbowled and outbatted him in the previous Test series in similar conditions in South Africa.
Mohammad Abbas, with a Test average of 18.85, in favour of Imran Khan.
Lastly, of course, Faheem Ashraf has been discarded even though he has a Test bowling average of 26.09, and took 6 wickets for 99 in the previous Test.
These decisions make no cricketing sense.
Form is ignored.
Career records are ignored.
Performance in recent Tests is ignored.
It appears that the only priority is to reverse the changes that Mickey Arthur had made to Misbah’s team and strategies.
Pakistan cricket is in a similar position now with Misbah-ul-Haq. He reigned over Pakistan cricket as national team skipper from 2010 to 2017, and himself had a number of signature practices, including a preference for selecting veterans and a reluctance to select all-rounders unless they are "as good at batting or bowling as a specialist".
There was an uneasy period of cohabitation for a year from June 2016, after Mickey Arthur was appointed as national team coach. In cricket the captain has seniority over the coach, and Misbah largely prevailed during that period in terms of retaining the older players with whom he felt more confident, and with all-rounders still effectively excluded.
Then, from mid-2017 to mid-2019 Mickey Arthur became more powerful when Misbah retired.
I don’t think that anyone would argue that Mickey Arthur had strategies for selection and play in Asia that were as effective as Misbah’s. But outside Asia he did fairly well, and he certainly favoured youth over experience and he also made a point of seeking to incorporate all-rounders in his Test team. He was well aware that, like yesterday, Pakistan all too often falls to positions like 94-5, and he deliberately bolstered the lower middle-order with players like Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf.
Consider the following sequence of four Tests outside Asia in which Mickey Arthur fielded Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf as twin all-rounders.
Ireland away
Pakistan fell to 153-5. Then Shadab hit 55 and Faheem hit 83 to lift them to 310-9 declared, and they won the Test.
England at Lords
Pakistan was 227-5, and then Babar Azam – the last specialist batsman – broke his arm at 246-5. Shadab scored 52 and Faheem hit 37 to lift Pakistan to a matchwinning 363 all out.
England at Leeds
Pakistan fell to 79-7, before Shadab’s 56 lifted them to 174 all out.
South Africa at Johannesburg
When Pakistan bowled, Yasir Shah took 4 wickets (Yasir Shah had taken 1 in the first 2 Tests) and Faheem Ashraf too 6 wickets.
When Pakistan batted, both failed in the First Innings. In the Second Innings Shadab entered at 162-5, and his 52 not out lifted them to 274 all out.
It seems clear that Pakistan’s fragile batting benefitted outside Asia from having Shadab Khan at 7 and Faheem Ashraf at 8. But their selection was itself a reversal of Misbah’s anti-all-rounder policy, and no sooner did he return to power as both Chief Selector and Head Coach than both were discarded, not just from the team but even from the squad.
In the case of Shadab, Pakistan fell to 240 all out in the First Test in Australia on the day that Shadab took 5 wickets for 73 in his first match back in domestic cricket.
Time and again we see Misbah reversing Mickey Arthur’s reforms.
In the previous Test, in similar conditions in Johannesburg, Imam-ul-Haq scored 43 and 35. As soon as Misbah regained power he was dropped for Haris Sohail, who is in dreadful form, is an inferior fielder and is 30 years old whereas Imam is just 23.
Misbah had managed to keep Mohammad Abbas out of the Test side until the age of 27, and he made his debut just a month before Misbah retired. A vast collection of older and inferior fast bowlers played instead of Abbas during Misbah’s career. Even in the final year of Misbah’s career both the lumbering Imran Khan and Sohail Khan were repeatedly preferred over Abbas.
So let’s consider who Misbah has discarded at the start of his Test reign:
Imam-ul-Haq discarded in favour of Haris Sohail.
Shadab Khan, discarded in favour of Yasir Shah, in spite of having outbowled and outbatted him in the previous Test series in similar conditions in South Africa.
Mohammad Abbas, with a Test average of 18.85, in favour of Imran Khan.
Lastly, of course, Faheem Ashraf has been discarded even though he has a Test bowling average of 26.09, and took 6 wickets for 99 in the previous Test.
These decisions make no cricketing sense.
Form is ignored.
Career records are ignored.
Performance in recent Tests is ignored.
It appears that the only priority is to reverse the changes that Mickey Arthur had made to Misbah’s team and strategies.
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