These days, the New Zealand cricket team is on a tour of Pakistan. Apart from the Test series, they are also playing one-day matches. Before that, a three-Test series with England was held in Pakistan, which England won. England defeated Pakistan in the test match in Rawalpindi, Multan and then in Karachi, and achieved a historic whitewash victory. Thus, Pakistan trampled the illusion of the home ground under its feet. For the first time in the 70-year history of Pakistan, the national team was whitewashed and faced defeat. The England team had won only two Test matches on Pakistan’s soil in the last 60 years, but in the recent series, England achieved the feat of defeating the Pakistani team in three Test matches in just one month. While the defeat of the Australian team in one Test match during the Test series played in Pakistan a few months ago gets included too, than the national team suffered from defeat in consecutive Test matches.

This sad defeat of the national team will be resolved only when the national team whitewashes against England in England, but if the Pakistani team wins the ongoing series against New Zealand, not only the anger of the fans will be reduced but also the honor of the Pakistani team will remain in the world of cricket. It should be noted that before this series, there have been 60 Test matches between Pakistan and New Zealand cricket teams, in which New Zealand has won 14 matches and Pakistan has won 25 matches, while 21 Test match has ended in a draw. During this time, 104 one-day matches were played between the two teams, in which Pakistan won 55 matches while New Zealand won 48 matches. On the other hand, in the 29 matches played between the two teams, Pakistan won 18 and New Zealand won 11. Thus, if we talk about the overall performance of the matches played between the two teams on all formats, then Pakistan’s side is heavy, but today the national team under the leadership of Babar Azam is showing an overall average level of performance. And the way the Pakistani team has faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of England in their home Test series, it can be said that the national team will have to work hard to win against New Zealand. There is no doubt that the Pakistan cricket team has achieved great success in the past, which is certainly appreciated. While the individual performance of the current captain of the national team, Babar Azam, is also worthy of praise, but as a captain, he is performing poorly. The defeats have brought the Pakistani team to number 7 in the ICC Test Championship. The dream of reaching the final has already been shattered. Currently, the Pakistani team is 7th in the Test Championship standings with an average of 38.39. Even after that, the Pakistani team will have to rely on the odds, but it is not impossible, it is very difficult. In these circumstances, the team’s access to the finals will be no less than a miracle.

It should be noted that in the third Test played between Pakistan and England in Karachi, Pakistan won the toss and batted first and scored 304 runs.  But in the second innings, the national team was bowled out for only 216 runs, so the England team got a target of 167 runs. The visiting team achieved this target by scoring 170 runs for the loss of two wickets in 28.1 overs and achieved a historic victory by 8 wickets. England’s batsman Harry Brook was awarded Man of the Match and Man of the Series. Ben Duckett played a brilliant innings of 80 runs not out in the Karachi Test. He was able to score 50 runs in the first innings. England fed 18-year-old spinner Rehan Ahmed, who played a key role in sending our experienced batsman to the pavilion by dancing the triple dance. Rehan Ahmed took 5 wickets in the second innings.

If we talk about the overall performance of the national team, in the batting department, only captain Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha were able to bat relatively well. The fast bowling department failed during the entire series including Faheem Ashraf and Waseem (Jr). New spinner Abrar Ahmed not only troubled the English batsmen with his magic but also played a historic role in sending them to the pavilion but still gave runs. However, better hopes can be attached to them in the future. Noman Ahmed also succeeded in playing his role. The absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah was felt throughout the series. Azhar Ali, who played his farewell test during the embarrassing defeat of the Pakistan cricket team, came out of the ground with a stump in his hand and tears in his eyes. But his wife and children were also present. On the first day of the third test, he was also presented a souvenir by the former chairman of PCB, Ramiz Raja. It should be remembered that Azhar Ali’s Test career ended at 7,092 runs. He made this score at 42.49 of the average in 97 Test matches.

 On the other hand, England won the Test after 15 years in the presence of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Stuart Broad is on holiday these days while 40 year old James Anderson was given rest in the last match. Ben Stokes has become the 7th captain in the world cricket to win at least 9 tests in a calendar year.  England also established a record of amazing run rate in the test series. England scored 5.50 runs per over against Pakistan. No other team has scored runs at such a fast rate in a 3-match series. Previously Australia had maintained a run rate of 4.66 against West Indies in 2015 and 2016. This year, England scored runs per over at an average of 4.54 during the series against New Zealand, while Pakistan scored 4.35 runs per over against India in 2005 and 2006, and Australia scored runs at the same average against South Africa in 2001 and 2002.

England captain Ben Stokes expressed his happiness for completing the whitewash and achieving a historic feat in Asian conditions saying that, “This is a memorable victory for us. Playing in Asian conditions is a big challenge. I am proud of my team. Rehan Ahmed bowled brilliantly. He has the ability to handle pressure even at a young age. Harry Brooks impressed a lot.”Further Ben Stokes said, “People come to watch cricket, so it’s our job to entertain them so that they enjoy it. We have our own way of playing. How other teams play is up to them.”

On the other hand, after the historic and shameful defeat, the captain of the national team, Babar Azam, put the reason of the defeat on the unfit and injured bowlers which do not played in the team recently and also said that we have suffered because of the fast bowlers which do not performed well, the fans are also very disappointed after being whitewashed. However, the performance of the team was also affected by the bad performance of Rizwan Ahmed. He could score only 262 runs in the last 12 innings at an average of 21.83. He played all 6 innings against England but he could not score even 50.  It is surprising that all the players announced by the team were given a chance to play in the entire series but only former captain Sarfraz Ahmed was not given a chance in any match. It should be noted that in past, Sarfaraz Ahmed has played an important role in the middle order batting. Before being dropped, he scored four 50s in the last 12 innings. He has not played a Test since the 2019 World Cup, despite his good performance, the team captain and bench officials did not give him a chance to play. In the last twelve first-class innings, he has scored one century and four 50’s. Why was he not given a chance? And why are the players unfit? Why did the team lose? Will Rizwan Ahmad continue to play despite failing in Test cricket due to his T20 performance? He should go back to first-class cricket, put in performances and then come back. However, the answer has to be given by the team captain, bench officials, selectors and board officials.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 23 2022

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