Not unlike Bilbo Baggins and the 13 dwarves in The Hobbit, Misbah-ul-Haq and his men face a series of challenges this year that appear far beyond their reach. While the chief task for Baggins and the dwarves was to slay the fearsome dragon Smaug, Misbah and Co have to counter rampaging England in their own backyard this summer and then go on to grapple with the mighty Aussies Down Under at the end of the year. In between, they have relatively less deadly tasks of dealing with West Indies on ‘home’ turf in the UAE and the Black Caps in New Zealand. But take into account Pakistan’s current form book and even these two sides seem to be formidable opponents.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo and the dwarves are able to achieve the seemingly impossible though a mix of courage, luck and the help of the old wizard Gandalf. Then there is the magical ring that Bilbo uses to his advantage as Tolkien cleverly weaves an engrossing tale with a happy ending.

There is, however, little hope for Misbah and his 15 men as they flex their muscles in readiness for the tour of England that will begin next month. They have attended a boot camp held under supervision of army trainers in the hills of Abbottabad. And if TV footage is to be believed, the morale in the Pakistan camp is high especially after the players managed to win at tug-of-war against army cadets at Kakul last week.

Insiders in the Pakistan camp tell me that the training exercise at the Pakistan Military Academy was certainly helpful as the players feel fitter and faster. That’s certainly good news. They also tell me that the mood in the camp is more positive than it was before, during and after the ICC World Twenty20 championship in India where the Pakistanis failed to clear the first hurdle. That’s good news too.

But that’s where the good news ends, more or less. Unlike Bilbo and the dwarves, Pakistan don’t have any Gandalf to turn to for either advice or downright help. True that we have roped in the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mickey Arthur but I don’t think either of them fits the bill. As chief selector, Inzamam has so far managed to cut a confident figure, quite different from his predecessor Haroon Rashid. But his job is to select the squad and from where I see it whoever Inzamam picks in the touring party, the team is likely to fall way short of countering Smaug.

In fact, in their own backyard, England these days appear to be even more dangerous than a fire-breathing dragon. The way they toyed with Sri Lanka in the first Test gave a clear forecast of what’s in store for the Pakistanis later this summer when they play four Tests in England. Pakistan will need much more than fitness and a positive mood to tackle the likes of Jimmy Anderson in the Tests that will be followed by a limited-overs series comprising five One-day International and a Twenty20 game.

The tourists will need top order batsmen with sound technique and a big heart. Sadly, they don’t have any. In the middle-order they have the seasoned duo of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq but any touring team facing England these days will need much more spine than that. Younis and Misbah are among the better batsmen of their generation but without the support of other batters, they are unlikely to weather the storm during the entire length of a four-Test series.

Many see the fitness problems of Mohammad Hafeez as an added problem for Pakistan considering that he is the only opener in the line-up with plenty of experience. But Hafeez hardly has the sort of technique an opening batsman needs when facing the likes of Anderson in testing conditions. He could be better off in the middle-order but if Pakistan are depending on him to deliver sound opening stands then they will be doing it at their own peril.

Pakistan will have to somehow find decent opening combinations for the series against England. Apart from the unfit Hafeez, Pakistan have shortlisted three more openers for the skill camp under progress in Lahore in the lead up to the tour of England. The trio of Sami Aslam, Shan Masood and Khurrum Manzoor has played a total of 25 Tests between them. Neither of them has played a Test on English soil.

The team’s think-tank, it is believed, also sees middle-order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed as a possible opening option. Personally I doubt that it would be a good idea to throw in the 25-year-old at the deep end. Iftikhar, after all, hasn’t even made his Test debut and to expect him to deliver as an opener in England would be asking for too much.

There is also this possibility that if Hafeez fails to regain full fitness, Pakistan might opt to bring the currently out-of-favour Ahmed Shehzad back in fray for the series against England.

The fact that we have little or no choices shows that when it comes to pool of players, Pakistan are spreading pretty thin. I believe that instead of looking for vague options, Pakistan should opt to invest in players like Shan Masood. The youngster was singled out as one of the fittest players at the Kakul camp. The 26-year-old showed his mettle in a record chase with Younis Khan, hitting a splendid 125 to help Pakistan win their Test series against Sri Lanka at Pallekele last July. The left-hander has also played well in England where he scored 1237 runs at an average of 103 – a school record – while playing for Stamford school. He also played three first-class games for Durham University.

There is no guarantee that Shan will succeed against Anderson and Co but are there any guarantees that the likes of Iftikhar and Shehzad will do any better?

To be continued…