A SERIES OF PRESS-UPS AND REDEMPTION

Another English summer arrived. Well, it had already arrived with Sri Lanka braving the chilly beginnings at the British Isles in the early May. Though, that was not the centre of attraction of the supposed elitist of cricket fans, folks, who prefer silence and serenity over fickle yelps and vibrancy. In spite of their victorious campaign couple of years ago, they were expected to roll over by an insurgent and flamboyant England in the most English of conditions. Another Lord’s draw was salvaged, a venue more in love with visiting sides in the recent past. Apart from that, they played their role as expected – the curtain raisers for the show of the summer. A show involving the most capricious cricket team.

The show promised to be stirring, even for the most insipid of English fan. And why not? It’d been six long years since their last visit- an abysmal one for the cricketing world. Six years of undulating phases for both team. Two disastrous tours of UAE along with the Ashes hiding down under ensured that England won’t stay at the top of the Test rankings even after a rare series win in India. On the other hand, the horrid run of limited over cricket of a team devoid of playing in front of its home crowd didn’t hamper its strong string of Test performances away from home on their way to be among the top half of the ranking tables constantly. Even though, the slow, low pitches of UAE played its part, yet the psychological advantage of a sprightly home crowd was missing, a significant challenge for them.

They arrived at the shores amidst huge anticipation of a thrilling dose of Test cricket. Though that was far from being the only reason of eagerness towards this series. A man was on a comeback trail of reintegration, about to make amends for the crimes committed as a boy, eager to earn the trust of the very nation, in which he had lost his integrity. His strong performances after the comeback in World T20 and domestic cricket earned him the support of his nation. 6 years passed by, the swing hadn’t faded. High hopes were inevitable. Rankings suggested them to be place one place higher than the hosts, yet they were the underdogs, such is the huge roles of home advantages in current periods. Perhaps the rankings are too farcical, almost ignorant of the playing conditions and winning margins.

Anyways, the series got underway. Pakistan couldn’t have asked for a better place to start - The Lord’s, the current paradise of touring teams, particularly Asian. India had won a test on a green-top two years back, Sri Lanka earned gutsy draw and it was the perfect opportunity for Pakistan to land the opening punch. They had the added initiative of brushing away the blemishes of that 2010 series, the scene of disgrace at the Mecca of cricket. They seemed to be well prepared by their military training. Their bowlers were always expected to deliver the killer blows. It was their batting, the perennial fragile cog of their team, which was invariably under the scanner.

The top order collapse duly arrived and with it come an unexpected sight. The lynchpin of their willow wielders was caught hoping like a rabbit in a headlight, demonstrating exaggerated skills of leaving a ball wide outside off stump with the back leg in air, prodding forward his hands while both his legs are off the ground – a sight so unusual even for a player who puts his dancing shoes on every time he has a willow in his hands. Perhaps, the challenge of keeping up with his aging reflexes against the moving ball resulted in a horror show of comedy, when everyone had expected their batting to hinge upon his experience.

Out came the skipper, with the young Asad Shafiq – probably the owner of the best technique in their line-up. A man having 42 summers of his life behind him, playing his first innings in the seaming and swinging English environs, produced the mental grit to grind England onto the back-foot. Their batting, for now, didn’t collapse the predicted way. The stage was set for Mohammed Amir to earn his redemption. He steamed in and bowled a swinging half tracker to the opposition skipper, who gleefully left it. If it was the sign of things to come, he was pretty relieved to see a subdued Amir, as he definitely had tasted the bitter medicine of Amir’s swing in that fateful series. Amir wasn’t subdued though, he thundered in ball after ball and gave his all. He accounted Cook as his first reward of persistence.

Though, contrary to expectation, he wasn’t the star of their bowling. Another wily performer and tainted player was. Yasir Shah send the memories of his doping ban to oblivion with a 10 wicket match haul on a surface providing little help to him with his accurate and minimal leg spinners. England seemed to be unable to exorcise the tweaking ghosts of UAE in their backyard too. The victory promptly achieved, the higher ranked team stamped its authority and the win was somewhat unexpectedly expected. Not a better start could’ve been envisioned to the series.

Next one arrived at Old Trafford. The novel England, or for that matter any England of any era couldn’t have been expected to accept the loss and spiral in towards mediocrity in a home series. They had displayed their meticulous comeback skills time and again under these grey skies, the series against India, a prominent example of how they gradually shift the momentum form nowhere and with some luck from the tosses, go on to strangle the opponents into complete submission. Manchester’s somewhat un-English wickets were supposed to be the shot in the arm for a raging Yasir storm to propel Pakistan towards a famous series victory overseas.

Instead, the lucky toss win for Cook doused all hopes of their fans as England negotiated an unthreatening Yasir on a Day 1 road and the erratic Pakistan pacers, especially Wahab Riaz, ensured England’s march towards a gigantic total. Amir was miserly, providing the occasional threat with his swing, though his wide lines hampered his venom. Joe Root displayed again his credentials as the one of the best in the current scenario. Pakistan’s batting duly capitulated, twice, to gift the match to England as Chris Woakes kept establishing his credentials with hauls of 6, 5, 4 and 3 wickets in the 4 innings of the series. He allayed his relentless scrutiny and posed a problem of plenty for England after Stokes and Anderson were deemed fit. All joined the party and Pakistan was left wondering whether England can lend one of their all-rounders to them. Cook’s high strike rates were telling a story of the timid show put up by their fickle opposition.

The caravan reached the Edgbaston. The paciest and bounciest of surfaces in England and Pakistan bowlers made merry as England collapsed, even though Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali ensured England to a competitive total. Their tormentor, the recalled Sohail Khan, showcasing a spell of big hearted swing and seam bowling to skittle out a 5 wicket haul. Pakistan’s top order displayed its tenacity for the first time as another rookie Sami Aslam, replacing a limited and miserable Shan Masood, found his feet in international cricket and displayed his immaculate defensive skills and judgement to a welcome half century and in the process inspired the vice-captain Azhar Ali to his first overseas century after an indifferent display in the first two matches. There was a notable adjustment in Azhar’s technique that displayed his commitment and hard work towards improvement. A Misbah half century and another sprightly innings from Sarfraz ensured a 100 plus lead. Pakistan might have entertained the thoughts of it being enough for Yasir and co.

Though the pitch was had flattened out enough and the English opening pair comprising of an out of form Alex Hales wiped out the deficit on its own as both struck half centuries. Amir and co. forced their way back to set up a perfectly gettable 200 odd chase, only to be thwarted by the prolific Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali – the spinner he promised to become was yet to be fulfilled, even though his initial batting promise has come to the fore after a journey around the batting order. A stiffer target of 343 was to be achieved in less than a day, a prospect seemed brighter to the Pakistani batsmen than it actually was, as they kept on pressing the pedal. Aslam and Azhar combined again to keep ticking the scoreboard amidst the caution. Azhar’s dismissal by Moeen’s subtle drift though exposed their middle order to a hair raising, out of the blue spell of reverse swing from the English pace quartet demolished all hopes of a win and even though Pakistan might have assumed the draw as a last resort, with 28 overs left for their last pair to negotiate, it was too much of an ask from the worst tail of current teams. They resisted gamely until eventually they gave up, inevitably.

Sami Aslam’s twin half centuries augured well for the future, his temperament, more so. Younis showed signs of stability though he was looking a pale shadow of the Pakistani legend. At his age, he was considered finished. It was familiarly frustrating for Pakistan though.

England had done this time and again in recent past to every touring team. Winning matches from being nowhere close. Against a Pakistani team, it was not that outrageous.

They reached the comfortable confines of the Oval, hopes of a series win had evaporated. A draw was there for taking though, an important one, considering their initial status as underdogs and the high quality of cricket on offer. Barring Old Trafford, they were far from being steamrolled, giving hooks in reply to the jabs of the hosts. They hit the right chords straight up, as Cook took a bold decision of batting first on an unusually green Oval pitch. Misbah indicated that he would’ve done the same. The reason seemed the supposed batting paradise underneath the moisture of the first hour.

Pakistan seamers, led by Sohail and a rejuvenated Wahab Riaz, wasted no time in drying up the runs and started picking wickets. Another Bairstow counterattack ensured the fragility of their middle order and failures of Cook and Root could be withstood. Moeen Ali not only complemented him, he went one better. Another test century against a high quality rampaging attack has established enough credentials for him to play as a number 7 batsman, even if his bowling doesn’t seem to have the bite.

Another Edgbaston like score ensued as the fairly brisk pace of their innings has left lots of time in the test. Pakistan grabbed their opportunity again and Azhar Ali combined with Asad Shafiq and night-watchman Yasir Shah propelled Pakistan towards another restore of parity, much similar to last test. With Azhar’s fall, anxiety returned among their supporters at the sight of the jumping jack of the series. He turned out to be transformed into a calm and composed anchor in a matter of couple of days. The ghosts of Edgbaston heartbreak were laid to rest. A magnificent double century from a man who has a more than 50 percent century conversion rate was hardly surprising. Though it came on the face of adversity, challenge and a past luggage of unfinished business for both his and his team makes it a truly special innings. Yasir Shah rediscovered his mojo to curtail England’s resistance to turn the tables again. A 10 wicket victory achieved, series levelled, a fitting end to a riveting series.

Pakistan was in its usual unpredictable elements, but the difference was their undying spirit and the belief they had in their individual’s talent. It was a series where they played with a spirit never seen before, the aim to win hearts, trusts and the lack of internal conflicts. It was a happy dressing room for which Misbah and new coach Mickey Arthur should be commended. Arthur had send a clear message to players like Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad to sort out their attitude, he showed how a series between England and Pakistan could be focussed on cricket. As Cook stated in his post-match presentation speech, the focus was on cricket for 99 percent of time, the past blemishes are truly a thing of past now.

England continued there great form in international cricket and showed tenacity to overcome a spirited Pakistan challenge to lead the series. There fragility and gaping holes in top 5 came back to haunt them time and again and eventually cost them a series win. Though signs are promising for them and like the whole series, both teams won’t be too disappointed with the kind of cricket they played. Catching was a big question mark for both teams, surprisingly for England, they need to work on it for the long Asian winter ahead. The new found Pakistani discipline might have stemmed out of the military training they receive before the series.

It was a series of spectacular press-ups and a treat for the neutral viewers. Hoping for such series to happen more frequently.