Just a few weeks ago, men at the helm of Pakistan cricket were having conniptions about the country’s tumbling fortunes in the two limited-overs formats. Now, it’s the national team’s slump in Tests that has become a bigger source of worry for them.

The Pakistanis looked completely out of sorts in New Zealand where the two Tests in Christchurch and Hamilton were lost without much of a fight. Now, if the first few days of the Brisbane day-nighter are seen as a yardstick then the three-Test series against Australia won’t be any success story for Misbah and company either.

Just a few months ago, things were looking set for Pakistan’s Test troops. They competed against England in England and even dominated the hosts for the best part of the four-Test series last summer and in the end came out with a highly credible 2-2 draw. The result propelled Pakistan to the top of the ICC Test rankings. In UAE, regarded as their Test fortress, Pakistan thumped aside West Indies in the first two Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi but crashed to a stunning defeat in Sharjah’s dead rubber. Since then it has all been downhill for Pakistan in the five-day format.

The challenge for Misbah-ul-Haq, Mickey Arthur and the rest of the coaching staff is to somehow lift Pakistan in the ongoing series against the Aussies.

It’s certainly the biggest challenge facing Arthur since he took over as Pakistan’s head coach ahead of last summer’s tour of England. He will have to quickly find ways and means to counter the Australians otherwise questions will be raised about his future as Pakistan’s coach.

At the twilight of his Test career Misbah, too, seems to have met his waterloo just like so many of his predecessors.

Over the years, Australia has been an insurmountable challenge for visiting Pakistan teams. The Pakistanis have lost each of the nine Tests they’ve played in Australia since 1999.

The script, one hoped would change this time. That optimism was a result of Pakistan’s rise as a Test team which coincided with Australia’s below-par showing in the lead up to the ongoing series.

However, early signs show that it might not be any different from the past.

Winning a Test series against Australia in their backyard requires a herculean, team effort something that Faff Du Plessis’ South Africa exhibited earlier this season. Against a side that has world class batters like David Warner and Steve Smith, you need a solid bowling attack that can deliver at full throttle. In Brisbane where the Aussies opted to bat first in the pink ball Test, Pakistan’s bowlers were unable to draw first blood. They allowed the hosts to comfortably cross the 400-run mark. Though below-par, the bowlers’ performance wasn’t entirely unexpected. In the past, Pakistan’s fast bowlers haven’t done exceptionally well in Australia. With the exception of Sarfaraz Nawaz, the only Pakistani pacer to have taken 50 wickets in Australia and Wasim Akram, our fast bowlers have seldom delivered Down Under.

One expected the likes of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz to trouble the Australians but despite the fact that both took four wickets apiece in the first innings in Brisbane, they were never as threatening as the trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird. The Aussie pacers just ripped through the Pakistani batting order to further consolidate their team’s position in the first Test.

Australia’s cause was helped by what was clearly a spineless display by the Pakistani batsmen at the Gabba. When Pakistan were getting ready for their tour of the antipodes, the common consensus was that much will depend on how their senior duo will fare in New Zealand and Australia. In an otherwise inexperienced batting lineup, Misbah and Younis Khan stood like pillars of strength. But so far, these pillars have proved to be mere matchsticks.

The awful run of form endured by Younis is by far the biggest cause for concern for the tourists. In his last six Test innings, Younis has only managed to score 16 runs. That’s his lowest aggregate in six consecutive Test innings in an otherwise illustrious career. Just like Pakistan’s, Younis’ lean patch was triggered in Sharjah against the West Indians against whom he fell for a duck in the second innings. He was dismissed for 2 and 1 in Christchurch and fell for 2 and 11 in Hamilton. At the Gabba, he failed to open his account.

Another horror story is that of Asad Shafiq. Last September, Arthur compared Asad with Sachin Tendulkar saying that the middle-order batsman reminds him of the Indian great. "Technically, Asad Shafi is out best batsman," Arthur said after Pakistan’s rise to No. 1 in the Test rankings last fall. “At times I could almost visualise Sachin Tendulkar. That is high praise, and I have told him that," Arthur added.

Well, the same Asad Shafiq who earned high praise from Arthur after an impressive century in the fourth and final Test against England at The Oval last August has averaged 8.28 in his last seven Test innings. With scores of 0, 0, 16, 17, 23, 0 and 2, Asad has been a complete flop in recent matches.

Asad’s saving grace in Brisbane was his catching. He took a series of excellent catches which was a relief considering that many of his other team-mates exposed their butterfingers, yet again. On Saturday, Misbah set an example when he dived to his left to take an excellent catch at mid on to get rid of Usman Khawaja. That’s the sort of catches Pakistan will have to take if they are to compete with the rampaging Australians during the rest of the series. They will also have to take a leaf out of Sarfraz Ahmed’s book. The aggressive Sarfraz helped Pakistan, who were gasping at 67-8, add 75 runs for the last two wickets. Sarfraz’s unbeaten 59 that came off just 64 balls, was the only silver lining in an otherwise disappointing Pakistani innings at the Gabba.

The way Sarfraz counterattacked in the face of what was quite a collapse was heartening even though he fell way short of taking his team to safer waters.

It’s very important for Pakistan to shrug aside their disappointing run and focus on regrouping themselves ahead of the second Test in Melbourne. The series against Australia has just started. Misbah and his men will have to show the sort of self-belief that helped them ascend to number one in the Test rankings. Otherwise there is going to be no hope for the tourists.