Last week Bangladesh cricket team shocked not only Pakistanis but their own fans by whitewashing the home side, for the first time in their history.

Bangladesh’s 2-0 win over Pakistan was their third Test series win abroad. Their previous overseas triumphs were a 2-0 win in West Indies in 2009 and a one-off Test victory in Zimbabwe in 2021.

Previous instances of Pakistan losing all matches in a home Test series was when England won 3-0 in December 2022.

Pakistan has no shortage of quality players, but what the team lacks is stability that comes from the top i.e. in team selection, consistency in players’ roles and making sure every player understands his role.

The instability within Pakistan cricket creates chaos, and the players ultimately start playing for themselves because they do not know what the next regime has in mind. It breeds mediocrity.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been through an upheaval since late 2022 when then-Chairman Ramiz Raja was sacked by the federal government. The country’s cricket ruling body has since been led by three chairmen, each bringing with him a range of changes to backroom staff and team leadership.

Different coaches bring different ideas and have different roles for the players. Seven people have coached Pakistan since November 2022: Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdul Rehman (interim coach), Grant Bradburn, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Mahmood (interim coach), Gary Kirsten (current white-ball coach) and Jason Gillespie (current red-ball coach).

Pakistan have not won a Test match at home since February 2021. They have played 10 consecutive Test matches at home without a win. This has happened only once before — when they went 11 home Tests without a win between 1969 and 1975.

It has been three-and-half-year since Pakistan won a Test match at home. Pakistan’s last series win at home was against South Africa in 2021. After that Australia (1-0) and England (3-0) beat the home side on their soil.

Only two other teams have had longer winless streaks at home in the last 25 years: Zimbabwe haven’t won any of their 14 home Tests since 2013, while Bangladesh were winless in 27 Tests at home between 2005 and 2014 and also did not win any of their first 15 home Tests between 2000 and 2004.

There have been four occasions when Pakistan lost a Test at home despite taking a first-innings lead batting first, including the second Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh where they took a 12-run lead. The previous time this happened was in 2000, when they lost to England in Karachi despite a 17-run lead in the first innings.

This is Pakistan team’s 17th overall series whitewash defeat. Pakistan has lost 13 series at the opponent’s home ground, out of which 7 series whitewash happened in Australia.

The Pakistan team was defeated in every Test in Australia in 1972, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2016 and 2023, while in 2002, 2013 and 2018, they had to see the shame of a whitewash in South Africa.

They were whitewashed in New Zealand in 2016 and 2020: both series were lost by Pakistan by a margin of 0-2.

In 2014 there was a 0-2 whitewash in Sri Lanka.

In all fairness, Bangladesh have had quite a few moments to be proud of. None more so than beating India in the 2007 WC. How fitting then, that the two kids from that day, Shakib and Mushfiq, now in the middle as veterans, saw their team through to their biggest Test series win.

This is not the first time that the Greenshirts’ performance in the longest format has raised eyebrows as previously ex-England cricketer Kevin Pietersen also expressed concern about Pakistan cricket after the team’s loss against Bangladesh in the first Test.

Bangladesh etched their name into cricket’s glorious comeback history with a spectacular victory in the second Test in Rawalpindi, defying the odds in a way only a handful of teams have ever managed.

After struggling at 26-6 in their first innings, Bengal Tigers fought back to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz shared 165 runs partnership, the highest for 7th wicket when teams had lost six wickets for under 30 runs.

They regrouped, and fought their way back to an unforgettable triumph - a feat achieved only six times before in Test cricket’s 147-year history.

The first Test in Rawalpindi was just the third time in history that a side declaring their first innings with six or fewer wickets down went on to lose, and Bangladesh’s 262 in the second Test is the highest total for a team that lost its first six wickets under 50 runs. Those Bangladesh recoveries, aided by Pakistan sustaining injuries to key bowlers and misfiring with the bat, led to the 2-0 result scarcely anyone predicted.

It’s the first time that Bangladesh went on to complete a clean sweep against an Asian side in their own home, inflicting a defeat that Pakistan and the entire cricketing spectrum would remember for years to come. Bangladesh haven’t been the strongest of teams in Test cricket away from home, with their only sweep in the longest format of the game coming against West Indies in 2009 (in a series of 2 or more Tests).

Bangladesh win has also reminded that the spirit of cricketing comebacks knows no boundaries or eras. With this performance, they have added their name to the list of teams that refused to bow down, proving that, in sports, it is not over until it is truly over.

With the clean sweep, Pakistan slipped to eighth position with 19.05 points. Only West Indies are behind them. On points table, India are on the top with 68.52. Australia are behind them with 62.50 points.

Pakistan have lost all five Test matches under Shan Masood’s captaincy so far — the worst start for a Pakistan captain. Masood is one of eight captains to lose their first five Tests. Four of the previous seven were from Bangladesh: Khaled Mashud (12), Khaled Mahmud (9), Mohammad Ashraful (8) and Naimur Rahman (5). Zimbabwe’s Graeme Cremer (6), New Zealand’s Ken Rutherford (5) and West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite (5) are the other three.

Shan has struggled as a batter also since taking on the Test captain’s role. He has made 286 runs in five matches and struck three half-centuries with a high score of 60.

Shan needs to be given the time to develop as a batsman first. When a captain is confident in his own game and feels supported, he ends up playing much better.

Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan was the most successful batsman of the Test series with 294 runs, averaging 98 with the help of one hundred and one fifty.

For Bangladesh, veteran Mushfiqur Rahim managed 216 runs in the series including one century at an average of 108.

On the bowling side, Bangladesh’s right arm off-break bowler Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 10 wickets averaging 18.60. From Pakistan, fast bowler Khurram Shahzad took nine wickets, averaging 24.44. The next test of Pakistan cricket team will be against England. The first Test will start from October 7 in Multan. The camp for the series will start from October 1. Multan is likely to host two Test matches.

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