Pakistan has had a strange old 2016.
Their Test series results were:
England: Drew 2-2 away
West Indies: Won 2-1 at home
New Zealand: Lost 2-0 away
Australia: Lost 2-0 away
So 4 wins, 0 draws and 7 defeats.
The teams which beat Pakistan were themselves dreadful: England lost 7 Tests in 2016 as well, Australia lost 5 and New Zealand were slaughtered by Australia and South Africa.
Pakistan can consider themselves fortunate not to have played against the outstanding current team, India, who might have embarrassed them even more.
The catalogue of errors looks something like this:
1. The selectors persisted with the same bowlers during a year in which none emerged with great credit and only Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz commanded occasional respect.
2. All cricket watchers know that old batsmen never flourish in Australia - so Pakistan picked two of them, at Numbers 4 and 5, with predictable results. On a blameless MCG surface, at least Sami Aslam and Babar Azam fell to the new ball. Misbah and Younis got out in the 20th over, to a spinner who was about to be dropped!
3. The selectors to all intents and purposes ignored players who had performed well in the conditions before. On the 2009-10 tour of Australia the outstanding players were Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Umar Akmal. And the selectors left 3 of the 4 at home, in favour of older and inferior replacements.
4. The only relative bright spot was the 2-2 draw in England. But apart from the fact that England were a weak team, the success owed itself to arriving early and acclimatising. Which Pakistan consequently elected not to do in New Zealand and Australia.
5. Misbah's attritional, defensive captaincy just cannot be overlooked. The Edgbaston Test was transformed from a probable victory into an improbable defeat by his misuse of a toiling Yasir Shah for excessive spells. The same pattern continued all year, as if Misbah did not understand that the bounce in England and Australia was too true for him to be effective with negative fields. Yasir conceded 213, 207 and 172 in separate innings in England and Australia.
6. Perhaps above all, 2016 was the year when Mickey Arthur was proved right and Misbah was proved wrong about team composition. Arthur has always insisted that 5 bowlers are needed outside Asia for the quicks to maintain their pace by bowling short spells. Misbah disagreed and imagined that Yasir Shah could close up an end outside Asia. Misbah was wrong.
And yet Pakistan briefly held the World Test Championship Mace in 2016.
And the cupboard is in no way bare.
Sami Aslam, Babar Azam and Mohammad Nawaz have emerged this year, and now need to be given a long run in the team.
Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed at ages 29-32 should be the senior players in the team - not the absurdly old Misbah and Younis - and they have all enhanced their reputations.
Mohammad Amir has yet to turn in a match-winning performance since his comeback, but he is bowling well and must be persisted with. As should Yasir Shah.
So that makes a foundation of 7-8 players who can hold their heads up high and who offer hope for the future.
Clearly time is up for both Misbah and Younis. On merit, neither should ever play another Test after the Sydney Test, and to be honest neither should play that one either. In the 4 Tests in New Zealand and Australia, Younis has 126 runs at an average of 15.75 and Misbah has 64 runs at an average of 10.67.
But Misbah and Younis have both had glorious careers in different ways, and it is a shame that neither they nor the selectors had the wisdom to realise that Australia and New Zealand were a bridge too far for men of their ages.
It is probably reasonable to pencil in Imam-ul-Haq as the next batsman to join the team. Salman Butt would have been useful in Australia, but as someone who objects to anyone aged over 35 being selected in any circumstances, I don't see the point in calling up a 32 year old after the tour to the place he does best in has finished.
The problem is what is not coming through in other areas.
Pakistan desperately needs a tall right-arm quick bowler in his twenties. Sohail Khan and Imran Khan are obviously not good enough, and the options now are not good. Mohammad Asif should obviously have played the 8 Tests this year outside Asia, but it may now be too late to be worth calling him up. Hasan Ali might be next in line, but his height is probably an impossible handicap.
The team also desperately needs an all-rounder who can be a fourth quick bowler outside Asia. No real effort has been made to groom one, and that has been costly. Faheem Ashraf and Aamer Yamin seem too short, and Hammad Azam seems too slow. It might have to be Amad Butt, who needs a lot of work to turn him into either a credible bowler or a credible Number 8 batsman.
Pakistan can make a start by ushering Misbah and Younis into retirement. They have had stellar careers, but Test cricket is not a place for men in their forties. Sohail Khan and Imran Khan also need to be replaced by younger, fitter, taller and faster right-arm bowlers.
But with the generational change made, Pakistan can start to do themselves justice at Test level.
Their Test series results were:
England: Drew 2-2 away
West Indies: Won 2-1 at home
New Zealand: Lost 2-0 away
Australia: Lost 2-0 away
So 4 wins, 0 draws and 7 defeats.
The teams which beat Pakistan were themselves dreadful: England lost 7 Tests in 2016 as well, Australia lost 5 and New Zealand were slaughtered by Australia and South Africa.
Pakistan can consider themselves fortunate not to have played against the outstanding current team, India, who might have embarrassed them even more.
The catalogue of errors looks something like this:
1. The selectors persisted with the same bowlers during a year in which none emerged with great credit and only Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz commanded occasional respect.
2. All cricket watchers know that old batsmen never flourish in Australia - so Pakistan picked two of them, at Numbers 4 and 5, with predictable results. On a blameless MCG surface, at least Sami Aslam and Babar Azam fell to the new ball. Misbah and Younis got out in the 20th over, to a spinner who was about to be dropped!
3. The selectors to all intents and purposes ignored players who had performed well in the conditions before. On the 2009-10 tour of Australia the outstanding players were Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Umar Akmal. And the selectors left 3 of the 4 at home, in favour of older and inferior replacements.
4. The only relative bright spot was the 2-2 draw in England. But apart from the fact that England were a weak team, the success owed itself to arriving early and acclimatising. Which Pakistan consequently elected not to do in New Zealand and Australia.
5. Misbah's attritional, defensive captaincy just cannot be overlooked. The Edgbaston Test was transformed from a probable victory into an improbable defeat by his misuse of a toiling Yasir Shah for excessive spells. The same pattern continued all year, as if Misbah did not understand that the bounce in England and Australia was too true for him to be effective with negative fields. Yasir conceded 213, 207 and 172 in separate innings in England and Australia.
6. Perhaps above all, 2016 was the year when Mickey Arthur was proved right and Misbah was proved wrong about team composition. Arthur has always insisted that 5 bowlers are needed outside Asia for the quicks to maintain their pace by bowling short spells. Misbah disagreed and imagined that Yasir Shah could close up an end outside Asia. Misbah was wrong.
And yet Pakistan briefly held the World Test Championship Mace in 2016.
And the cupboard is in no way bare.
Sami Aslam, Babar Azam and Mohammad Nawaz have emerged this year, and now need to be given a long run in the team.
Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed at ages 29-32 should be the senior players in the team - not the absurdly old Misbah and Younis - and they have all enhanced their reputations.
Mohammad Amir has yet to turn in a match-winning performance since his comeback, but he is bowling well and must be persisted with. As should Yasir Shah.
So that makes a foundation of 7-8 players who can hold their heads up high and who offer hope for the future.
Clearly time is up for both Misbah and Younis. On merit, neither should ever play another Test after the Sydney Test, and to be honest neither should play that one either. In the 4 Tests in New Zealand and Australia, Younis has 126 runs at an average of 15.75 and Misbah has 64 runs at an average of 10.67.
But Misbah and Younis have both had glorious careers in different ways, and it is a shame that neither they nor the selectors had the wisdom to realise that Australia and New Zealand were a bridge too far for men of their ages.
It is probably reasonable to pencil in Imam-ul-Haq as the next batsman to join the team. Salman Butt would have been useful in Australia, but as someone who objects to anyone aged over 35 being selected in any circumstances, I don't see the point in calling up a 32 year old after the tour to the place he does best in has finished.
The problem is what is not coming through in other areas.
Pakistan desperately needs a tall right-arm quick bowler in his twenties. Sohail Khan and Imran Khan are obviously not good enough, and the options now are not good. Mohammad Asif should obviously have played the 8 Tests this year outside Asia, but it may now be too late to be worth calling him up. Hasan Ali might be next in line, but his height is probably an impossible handicap.
The team also desperately needs an all-rounder who can be a fourth quick bowler outside Asia. No real effort has been made to groom one, and that has been costly. Faheem Ashraf and Aamer Yamin seem too short, and Hammad Azam seems too slow. It might have to be Amad Butt, who needs a lot of work to turn him into either a credible bowler or a credible Number 8 batsman.
Pakistan can make a start by ushering Misbah and Younis into retirement. They have had stellar careers, but Test cricket is not a place for men in their forties. Sohail Khan and Imran Khan also need to be replaced by younger, fitter, taller and faster right-arm bowlers.
But with the generational change made, Pakistan can start to do themselves justice at Test level.
Now how do you rate them after the disastrous 2016?
with due respect to karun nair ji
