The Heroes who Made History Possible!

The 6^th of February will always be remembered as the golden day in Pakistan’s cricket history. Not only did the Men in Green achieved the impossible by claiming a whitewash over England, they also tamed the English media that had called them chuckers, thrown ball tampering allegations at them as well as termed them spot-fixers during their last tour of the country.

This was the first time that Pakistan played like a winning unit in many years. Many of those who follow the game religiously had written off Misbah ul Haq and his men ahead of the series, and this scribe was one of them. I publicly apologize to the Pakistan cricket team for underestimating them, but aren’t they the best when cornered? Yes they are, and their unpredictable nature was one of the biggest factors that helped them tame the best in the world!

Both the batsmen and the bowlers gave more than their 100% and the credit of the success goes to the captain, Misbah ul Haq who remained calm even in tense situations. The batsmen displayed patience and presence of mind, due to which the batting clicked throughout the series, to the disappointment of the English team and media. Out of the 6 scores of over 250 runs in an innings, Pakistan dominated the chart with 4, including the 365 all out in the final innings of the series. The 338 runs in the first test were also the highlight of Pakistan’s first win in the series, whereas England’s 327 at Abu Dhabi was not enough to save the match.

Pakistan’s Azhar Ali was the only batsman in the series who scored more than 200 runs. In fact, he not only scored 251 runs in 5 innings at an average of 50, he also posted the highest score of the series – 157 in the third Test. Younis Khan followed with 193 runs, 127 of which came in the last match of the series. He may have scored just one score of more than 50 runs, but Mohammad Hafeez came third in the batsmen’s list with 190 runs, followed by the skipper Misbah ul Haq at 180 and youngster Asad Shafiq with 167 runs. Batting proved to be the main difference between both the sides as the top English batsman – Jonathan Trott – came on the list of most runs at number 6 with 161 runs, behind 5 Pakistanis.

Similarly, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman dominated the bowling chart with 24 and 19 wickets respectively, followed by Monty Panesar with 14 scalps. While Ajmal remained the only bowler to take 10 wickets in the series, the left-arm spinners Rehman and Panesar shared two five-wicket hauls to finish at second and third position. Saeed Ajmal’s 7/55 at Dubai was the best bowling performance from either side, followed by Rehman’s 6/25 and Panesar’s 6/62 at Abu Dhabi.

The Test series is now over and will be followed by a one-dayer against Afghanistan and 4 one dayers and 3 Twenty20 internationals against England. It remains to be seen whether the selectors retain successful players like Azhar Ali for the limited overs or try youngsters against the reigning T20 World Champions. Whatever they decide, Pakistan will have the upper hand because they had outclassed, outsmarted and outwitted the world’s best side with determination, dedication and unity!