Rebuilding the Fortress: Countdown to Pakistan winning a Test series

[Hawkeye]

It hurts to see us drop to minnow level in Tests. Last time, Sri Lanka beat us at our home. They didn't just win, they whitewashed us! In the UAE, out of all places.

We've lost to both New Zealand (home) and South Africa (expected).

The real test for Misbah and the new management would be the upcoming Sri Lanka home Test series. Of course, we should not expect to win against Aus in Aus. It will be a miracle even if we pull off a draw, let alone a single win.

Can we come out of the darkness that has surrounded our Test team?

Winning at home again, making it the fortress, should be our first target. I expect the team to win, and go on to become a force to be reckoned with again.

 

[Usman Chadda]

This thread won't age well

Yeah I don't see [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION] posting anymore after the Sri Lanka Test series. It was nice having you here. Misbah will definitely miss your undeserved support.

 

[Khan12]

Misbah lost us a test in Zimbabwe and cost us 2 ICC trophies. Enough said.

 

[Hawkeye]

This thread won't age well

Yeah I don't see [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION] posting anymore after the Sri Lanka Test series. It was nice having you here. Misbah will definitely miss your undeserved support.

It's quite the opposite.

The ones hating on him, before he has even built a team, will have no place to hide.

I will be quite disappointed if we end up losing it. That would indicate the Mickey Arthur effect is still there, but blame would also go to Misbah.

I'm positive we can turn things around in Tests. You should be here to acknowledge it once we finally win the series.

 

[Abdullah719]

It's quite the opposite.

The ones hating on him, before he has even built a team, will have no place to hide.

I will be quite disappointed if we end up losing it. That would indicate the Mickey Arthur effect is still there, but blame would also go to Misbah.

I'm positive we can turn things around in Tests. You should be here to acknowledge it once we finally win the series.

We need to build a team that can be competitive for the long-term with sustainable success.

When Misbah's team went to #1 in Tests, Hafeez was opening the batting and most of the success was completely dependant on Younis/Misbah and Yasir Shah. That's why when Younis/Misbah retired and Yasir's form went downwards, Pakistan were in freefall from that #1 ranking. Need to have a good all-round team to have sustainable success.

 

[Hawkeye]

We need to build a team that can be competitive for the long-term with sustainable success.

When Misbah's team went to #1 in Tests, Hafeez was opening the batting and most of the success was completely dependant on Younis/Misbah and Yasir Shah. That's why when Younis/Misbah retired and Yasir's form went downwards, Pakistan were in freefall from that #1 ranking. Need to have a good all-round team to have sustainable success.

All teams face such a situation when their mainstays go. We lost both yk and Misbah. Then Asad and to some extent Azhar couldn't live up to the expectations. We invested a lot in them. Dearth of talent was also an issue, still is.

In terms of sustainability it should be much better this time. Imam, Babar, Haris can be relied upon. One or two more might also surface. Asad/Azhar can become better too.

 

[Abdullah719]

All teams face such a situation when their mainstays go. We lost both yk and Misbah. Then Asad and to some extent Azhar couldn't live up to the expectations. We invested a lot in them. Dearth of talent was also an issue, still is.

In terms of sustainability it should be much better this time. Imam, Babar, Haris can be relied upon. One or two more might also surface. Asad/Azhar can become better too.

You didn't catch my hints

Why did we face this situation? Misbah as captain and Waqar as coach repeatedly showed their lack of tactical nous.

From repeatedly using Hafeez as opener in Tests, to taking him overseas to SA in 2013 where he embarrassed the team. To playing Taufeeq Umar in UAE Tests, and then dropping him for Nasir Jamshed(debut)/Imran Farhat in SA.

It took until Waqar's departure until Azhar finally played in his rightful position, i.e. opener. If the visionaries had seen that sooner and done it, Haris could have been deservedly introduced into the middle-order, softening the blow of Younis and Misbah's retirements.

When Ajmal and Rehman went from the scene, they were replaced by Yasir and a 35-year-old Zulfi. Again, Zulfi was never going to last long and once Yasir's form went bad, we struggled.

Additionally, the main pacers during the Misbah/Waqar era were Wahab and Rahat. Need I say more.

My main point is that I am hopeful that the visionaries i.e. Misbah and Waqar are able to learn from their mistakes this time around. The right type of players need to be invested in for the future. The investment in Asad has already proven to be (almost) a complete failure.

For sustainable success, the right players have to be identified, invested in and given chances for Pakistan to become a stronger Test team.

 

[Saj]

The problem is you need more than 2 or 3 players who can win you a Test match.

I don't see too many players who fall into that top category of player at the moment.

 

[Titan24]

I really hope that we can beat Srl this time around in our home test series. I am pretty sure Misbah atleast wont make the mistake of playing 3 pacers on a spinning track when the opposition was playing 3 spinners.

 

[Finisher]

It's going to be painful watching Pakistan play negative cricket in World Cups again

 

[Ag78]

Sri Lanka are without Herath now and their batsmen aren't consistent. Good chance for Pakistan this time.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

The UAE fortress can't be rebuilt because SL are likely to play in Pakistan not in the UAE. It's time to see whether playing in the UAE was a blessing or not.

 

[Hawkeye]

You didn't catch my hints

We can twist it any we want as of now, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Lack of talent was a real issue too. There were no new quality pacers coming up.

On the other hand, we managed to do a tremendously good job considering the kind of players available. We did develop batting, but not many good bowlers, there weren't any.

This time, it should be good again under proper guidance of Misbah.

The UAE fortress can't be rebuilt because SL are likely to play in Pakistan not in the UAE. It's time to see whether playing in the UAE was a blessing or not.

Yeah, that will be an interesting change. But, other (West) teams will not come to PAK. So I'm guessing it will alternate b/w UAE and PAK for a good few series.

This is a challenge, because players will have to keep adjusting. No fixed "home".

 

[Shazzam]

I see so Test matches are easier than Twenty20. We will see how he does in the hardest format of the game.

 

[Amjid Javed]

looking at pakistans next 3 test series i cant see them winning any of them

Aus (a) - Aussies win
SL (H) - Draw or SL win
Eng (a) - England win

 

[emranabbas]

Absolutely We win the SL test and taste the victory again in tests

Saeed ajmal is coming back out of retirement and ICC are allowing him and hafeez to chuck

Misbah will now select coach and captain the Pakistan side

Yasir Shah is suddenly back in form

And younas khan is also making a comeback

No1 test ranking is ours

 

[Hawkeye]

looking at pakistans next 3 test series i cant see them winning any of them

Aus (a) - Aussies win
SL (H) - Draw or SL win
Eng (a) - England win

Winning at home should be the first target. These days, only the top 1-2 teams beat decent teams away from home.

Pak current test team isn't in the top 2. We should aim to get there in 2-3 years realistically.

 

[Sean143]

It hurts to see us drop to minnow level in Tests. Last time, Sri Lanka beat us at our home. They didn't just win, they whitewashed us! In the UAE, out of all places.

We've lost to both New Zealand (home) and South Africa (expected).

The real test for Misbah and the new management would be the upcoming Sri Lanka home Test series. Of course, we should not expect to win against Aus in Aus. It will be a miracle even if we pull off a draw, let alone a single win.

Can we come out of the darkness that has surrounded our Test team?

Winning at home again, making it the fortress, should be our first target. I expect the team to win, and go on to become a force to be reckoned with again.

How about making a new fortress, that too on foreign soil?
#Aus xD

 

[Junaids]

Excuse me, but Pakistan won a Test series against Australia last year, then

1. lost to NZ due to Azhar Ali’s pathetic command of a run chase, then

2. lost in SA because they picked Yasir Shah for too long before replacing him with Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan who were instantly successful and should have played all along.

The positives - Shadab and Faheem - have now been dumped and the serial failures (Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Yasir Shah) are now picked for no apparent reason.

 

[Hawkeye]

How about making a new fortress, that too on foreign soil?
#Aus xD

As you wish.
Any victory there will be a huge bonus.

 

[Hawkeye]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION]

Brother, I want to take you seriously, but then you bring in Faheem and Shadab. In Tests!

Clearly you're unable to see the fault in your thinking. We cannot win with bits and pieces. Imran Khan and Misbah ideology of going for the kill with specialists is the recipe for success. Not with Faheem or Imad in Tests.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Excuse me, but Pakistan won a Test series against Australia last year, then

1. lost to NZ due to Azhar Ali’s pathetic command of a run chase, then

2. lost in SA because they picked Yasir Shah for too long before replacing him with Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan who were instantly successful and should have played all along.

The positives - Shadab and Faheem - have now been dumped and the serial failures (Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Yasir Shah) are now picked for no apparent reason.

Let's be realistic. Pakistan won 1-0 against a Australian team without Warner, Smith , Hazelwood or Cummins and that's after winning 2 tosses. That's an Australian side without batsmen or bowlers.