Image Credit- Getty
As Abrar Ahmed circled the wicket to Shakib Al Hasan, Sarfaraz Ahmed took his position behind the stumps and watched as the left-hander smacked it over cover to hit the winning runs. After suffering a 2-0 loss to a Bangladeshi team that had just won their biggest series, Pakistan had reached unprecedented lows. Pakistan had now lost five straight Test matches and had now lost ten straight Test matches at home.
In less than twenty-four hours, Sarfaraz arrived in Lahore. This, along with the fact that Pakistan’s most experienced Test player was required to perform pre-competition vapidities for a white-ball event tucked in between the country’s two home Test series this year, should give you some idea of how seriously the PCB are taking their worst home run in Test cricket. This one-day cup ends on September 29, eight days before the first Test begins, so there won’t be a longer training camp before England arrives.
Prior to England’s visit, Pakistan’s struggling batsmen, of whom there were plenty during the Bangladesh series, could have found it helpful to switch to domestic red-ball cricket, but they will not have that option. It is not expected that the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy would start until the third week of October, which is exactly when England is expected to come.
However, QeA seasons are unique, just as snowflakes. Furthermore, it’s still not red-ball cricket, even though the Champions Cup—which will undoubtedly be Pakistan’s best domestic one-day competition—will have ample funding and all of the country’s fittest players eligible to compete.
It may be argued that five of the top seven batters are out of form. Three did not play a single red-ball match before Pakistan’s greatest red-ball season in a century. Saud Shakeel managed three, Salman Ali Agha two, and Saim Ayub just one. Prior to this season, Masood was the only player with red-ball experience due to his County Championship deal.
Despite worries about the disparity in quality between Pakistani domestic and international cricket, it is noteworthy that the country’s middle order in Tests has been a global source of runs; players ranked 5-7 in this World T20 cycle have an average of 43.68 in Tests, which is higher than that of any other team’s middle order. Agha and Shakeel are the two players on this Pakistani team who are closest to playing first-class cricket.
Over a third of the 12,642 domestic red balls that Pakistani batsmen have faced since the beginning of 2021 have come from Agha and Shakeel alone (4670).
Before the first ball of the England series is bowled, the PCB is known for their haphazard and chaotic personnel changes, and it’s possible that more may occur. The quantity of balls that Pakistan’s players face or bowl in red-ball cricket, however, will not alter. The first-class competition will not start this year until after the fourth Test of the season is complete, with a jazzed-up domestic one-day tournament serving as the sole game to tide them over.
The situation that Pakistan cricket is least prepared to face is one for which there is no jugaar, no workaround, and no magic bullet. At this point, the game is little more than a release valve for the dopamine spikes that hirings and sackings deliver. Although Pakistan’s internal system is ageing, no recent administration can escape responsibility for their deliberate decision to keep it unlubricated.
Red-ball cricket before a Test series was better, according to a Pakistani team official, but scheduling was labour-intensive. which is accurate. Not quite as difficult, though, as continuously under-changing Test cricket matches and expecting different outcomes every time.