At the end of an extremely unsuccessful world cup and a humiliating exit by the Pakistani team, changes at a higher level and ultimately within the team were long due. A whole batch of senior players had been holding the team together for over a decade now, with some memorable victories, and some unpleasant ones. It seemed now, after such an embarrassing exodus from the World Cup that it was time to rejuvenate the team with some young blood. The senior members of the team had been playing on based on past performances and no one seemed to be clicking for the team anymore. The team was greeted with a flurry of accusations and pleas of a revolution within the PCB. With such a widespread appeal from the Pakistani public and extensive criticism from not just local cricket gurus, but even foreign think thanks, it was time to bring about a major change.
A new selection committee was appointed under Aamir Sohail, former Pakistani opening batsman to ensure that the team would recover quickly from their world cup defeat. Members of the selection committee included Saleem Yousuf, Shoaib Muhammad, Farukh Zaman and Shafiq Ahmed. Furthermore, Richard Pybus, then coach of the Pakistani team was sacked and replaced by Javed Miandad while Rashid Latif who had announced his retirement from Test cricket, was appointed to lead the newly reformed side. Eight of the senior members of the team were dropped out of the team, and it was up to the inexperienced boys to represent their country.
They didn’t start off too well, but gradually learnt the rewarding virtues of teamwork. Soon after,
Pakistan hosted a series against a inexperienced, yet talented
Bangladesh side and claimed a series whitewash of 3-0 in the Test matches, and 5-0 in the ODIs. This considerably boosted the morale of the youngster, but as always, there are always tradeoffs. The series ended with Latif being banned for 5 ODIs, while Javed Miandad was fired once again and replaced with Englishman Bob Woolmer, which came as a complete surprise to everyone, since he was expected to coach the side until April 2005. Inzamam was appointed as the captain of this volatile team, and was expected to bring out the best from this talented, young batch.
In 2004, the PCB hosted a home series against India and after a lot of debate and questions of security, the Indian side was to finally complete a tour of Pakistan after 15 years; history was in the making. The series was won by the Indians, but history had been written. The ice had been broken and the Indian side received enormous coverage by the media at home and abroad, and they returned home as celebrated heroes. Even though Pakistan had lost the test series by 2-1, and the ODI series by 3-2, the fact that they came so close to victory considerably bolstered their belief in themselves.
The following tour of Australia saw Pakistan losing out to a formidable Australian test side by 3-0. This time however, it was a totally different side that the Australians were facing. An energetic and spirited young team, who gave it everything and at times even troubled a very unrelenting and groomed Australian test side.
The next challenge that awaited Pakistan was a tour of India after many years. The Pakistani side was under immense pressure this time around since they had already suffered a series defeat at home the year before. A relatively and inexperienced side was selected for the tour and according the media reports, this was the weakest Pakistani side ever to play India. The strength-void that was created between the two teams was possibly also due to the fact that India is currently regarded to have the strongest batting lineup in test and one day cricket. The likes of Sehwag, who can be destructive to say the least, Tendulkar, who needs no introduction, Ganguly, with close to 10,000 runs in both, test and one days, and many more to face an under-strength Pakistani bowling. It was widely expected for India to comfortably seal the series in both the test matches as well as the ODIs.
India put up a magnificent performance in the first test match, only to be equaled by some brave batting by Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal to end the match with a draw. India, not satisfied by a less than mediocre performance, decided to give it their best. A great effort by most of their batsmen, and some excellent, restrictive bowling spells saw India take the game away from Pakistan comfortably. The third and final match was the deciding match for the rest of the series. Huge contributions from Inzamam and Younis Khan ensured that India would never really bother the Pakistanis too much.
Although the morale was sky high in the Pakistani dressing room, the Indians started the ODI series with two consecutive and comprehensive victories against a frail Pakistani bowling attack. Thereafter, the Pakistanis never showed complacency and never allowed India a moment to breath, and prevailed in four consecutive games as they wrapped up a series win by 4-2. The mood in the Pakistani dressing room was ecstatic to say the least. They had achieved what their predecessors could never imagine, a huge victory against a much stronger Indian side. They will now go to West Indies with a strong sense of self-confidence with an enormous victory behind them.
The morale of the story is, with hard work, commitment, proper channeling of talent, and faith in the ability to crush the opposition, no matter how big the challenge may be, can lead to fabulous victories such as the one we all have experienced over the last few days. After an unsatisfactory performance in the 2003 World Cup in England, the Pakistani team stands tall, heads up high within a matter of two years. Such is the power of unity and hard work, and of course, divine assistance by the omnipotent and All-powerful Allah.
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