Ben Stokes and his men outplayed Babar Azam and his team in the first Test in Rawalpindi. A lot has been said and written about the historic English win on a flat track made under strict supervision of Pakistani curators to achieve the desired results but Ben Stokes and Coach Brendon Mc Cullum had altogether different plans up their sleeves.

The tactical and strategic combination of Stokes and McCullum proved lethal. They not only read the pitch perfectly but approached it in a manner that has transformed the very outlook of Test cricket.

Michael Atherton while praising the leadership of Ben Stokes rightly said: “I don’t think I have seen a better week of Captaincy than what we have just seen from that man.”

The Test match was over in the very first innings when England scored a mammoth 657 in just 101 overs. Ben was very clear in assigning roles to his men who took full advantage of the motorway cricket track. Zak Crawley scored 122 in 111 balls, Duckett 107 in 110 balls, Pope 108 in 104 balls, and Harry Brook was most lethal who thrashed Pakistani bowling by scoring 153 in 116 balls.

Pakistan in reply managed a respectable 579 with centuries from Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam. Test debutant Will Jacks took 6 wickets for 161 runs in a marathon spell of 40 overs. Ollie Robinson, the player of the match, and 40 years old James Anderson took 4 wickets in the second innings, thus sealing the fate of the match on the fifth and final day.

But this all was not as simple as it looks. The major difference between the two teams was not just the ability to score quickly but it was England’s leadership both on and off the field that helped them clinch the victory.

This reminded me of my article, “Character & Leadership: faultlines of Pakistan cricket”, published on 10th Jan 2010 in which I wrote that a team without a resolute leader is nothing but a house of cards. I suggested that those who want to witness the real display of character and inner strength of an athlete should watch the movie “When We Were Kings” which chronicles the fight between Muhammad Ali & Gorge Forman but now I suggest that sports lovers watch the skillful captaincy of Stokes in Rawalpindi Test.

It was all about courage and courage is a word that comes up a lot in leadership. It does take courage to walk down the dark alley where others don’t want to go. The British captain showed that the beauty of leadership is that there is no perfect recipe. You cannot say, “do these 10 things and you will be a leader”. Those 10 things might help you become a leader, but doing them alone won’t make you one. There has to be personal capacity as well.

Babar, who is one of the most prolific batsmen in the contemporary world of cricket, had no answer to the brilliance of Stokes, who looked miles ahead from his counterpart in game awareness, approach, strategy, employment of fielders and assigning roles to his players with ultimate clarity and confidence.

Babar was appointed as the team leader, replacing Azhar Ali in November 2020. He has so far captained in 13 Tests, winning two at home and six away and lost three. A win rate of 61.53 % doesn’t speak much of his shrewd cricketing brain as a leader which will be put to further test in near future.

Babar has scored 3122 runs in 42 Tests, averaging 47.30, and 4664 runs in 92 ODIs, averaging 59.79. Personally, I am not a big fan of statistics because numbers are not the true reflection of human ability. I strongly believe that Babar has far greater potential than what his statistics show.

Babar is Pakistan cricket’s strategic asset along with Shaheen Shah Afridi. We have already damaged one asset because we were unable to utilise him selectively and properly.

Babar has the potential to cross 12000 runs in Test cricket. He is a rare phenomenon in the cricketing world but the incompetence of cricket godfathers in Pakistan is putting Babar’s future at stake. We are overburdening him by giving him the responsibility to lead in all three forms of cricket.

Babur has to learn the art of leadership. He must learn that in leadership challenges things change, events change, oppositions, pitches and circumstances change. As a matter of fact, leadership is all about change. Leaders always encounter new situations, they have to learn how to meet new challenges, to adapt, to confront, to master, to win. The leader’s job never stops evolving.

It’s time to distribute the burden of leadership. The Board should look at other options to lessen the burden of Babur so that he can focus more on his primary skill as the lead batsman in Tests and ODIs. Changing gears during the ongoing series against England is not recommended but the decision makers have to look at the possibilities of appointing a more creative and aggressive leader.

There is also a need to have someone with strong credentials like Brendon Mc Cullum in the coaching staff, who can resist the undue intervention from the Board’s highest office in game strategy, selection of the final eleven and execution of game plans when the horns are locked.

sdfsports@gmail.com