T20 triumph

Pakistan’s back-to-back nine-wicket victories against the two finalists of this year’s World Twenty20 championship – England and the West Indies – and then a series-winning triumph against the West Indies come as a much-needed respite for a team that had been going through an awfully lean patch in white-ball cricket. Following Pakistan’s ascent to the top of the Test rankings, its sudden T20 resurgence is a welcome sign but one cannot read too much into it. In the recent past, Pakistan has displayed similarly brilliant flashes only to slump to a series of defeats later on. The fact is that Pakistan has a long way to go before one can count its teams in the limited overs formats among the world’s leading sides. At the moment, Pakistan is languishing at number nine in One-day Internationals and at number seven in the Twenty20 format. That is more or less a true reflection of its standing unless it capitalises on the recent wins and brings more consistency in its performance graph.

Pakistan’s stock in the Test format is high especially after its historic series-levelling in the fourth and final Test against at The Oval last month. The comprehensive triumph catapulted Pakistan to No 1 spot in the Test rankings for the first time. However, Pakistan enjoys such a narrow lead over second-placed India that its arch-rival can regain the top place if it beats New Zealand in the ongoing Test series on home soil. Pakistan itself faces the tough task of taking on New Zealand and Australia during a tour of the Antipodes starting in November this year. It will need to prevail in the twin assignments to retain its place at the top. Perhaps more importantly Pakistan has to quickly find apt replacements for captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, who are in the twilight years of their Test careers. However, it is not all doom and gloom for Pakistan considering that the team has recently seen the rise of promising youngsters like Imad Wasim, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam and Hasan Ali. What Pakistan cricket’s think-tank needs to do is provide them more opportunities because if there is hope for Pakistan cricket it lies in its young players.