English adherents will probably tell you it was down to their batsmen showing an inability to adapt to the conditions, throwing their wickets away after getting good starts, often at crucial stages. But test cricket is rarely this cut and dry. The real truth is Pakistan’s success was as much a function of inconsistent common sense from England as was of sheer genius from the likes of Inzamam, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Akhtar and co.

This series has been called a transformation for later two. Both players have been in the past the most preferred choice for what I call the ‘interim honeymoon treatment’ from Pakistan cricket followers. Lauded as one of the best one day, criticised as being no good the very next.

M. Yousuf has been tagged as a glorified minnow basher by some, others questioning (and perhaps with certain degree of justification) his ability to play well under pressure, but because of his general low profile stance and an unblemished fitness record, a sizeable majority of the fans would stick by him through a lean trot, as they did after a forgettable match for him in Multan. Eventually stats of 342 runs at 68.4 in 3 matches against arguably the best attack in the world, including a career best 223 after coming in at 12-2, should give the remaining few critics good food for thought.

Shoaib Akhtar on the other hand, unlike Yousuf, is less of a stranger to questions being asked about his commitment, form and fitness amongst other things. But in this series he has shown, once again, why he is such an irresistible asset to Pakistan Cricket. 17 wickets 24.58 to go with 85 crucial runs at 21.25 (a better record then the England captain I may add) are figures that will not require anyone to speak for them. At age 30 and after 38 test matches, Shoaib Akhtar has arrived in full fore.

And with him has arrived a Pakistan team whose biggest strength is emerging to be its ability to fight and fight together for a cause. Team spirit is not necessarily something one has been able to associate with the Pakistan sides of 90s when the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus, Saeed Anwer, Rashid Latif or Moin Khan amongst others played together in the same team, a stunning combination of extraordinary talent on paper, but an uneasy, susceptible conflict of personality in reality.

“He’s the only lion in the jungle now” was what Afridi giggled in a recent television interview when asked about the reasons behind Inzi’s success as captain. But there is much truth in this candid statement. Inzamam is not only revered by his team mates, but the magnitude of that respect is probably more then the sum of what all his team mates get.

His status as the best player in the team is undisputed, his standing as captain is undisputed, in affect the total sum of his authority and influence is undisputed unlike in the past when several ex-captains often played together in the same team. There are no external lobbies, no conflict of personalities, no diversion of any form; there is absolute devotion to a cause I may add if it doesn’t sound very filmy. This is why, despite his relative tactical naivety at times, Inzi is able to rally his troops (quite literally) and get the best out of them.

With his batting also coming to the fore (431 runs against England at 107.75, to go with 1000+ runs in the calendar year at nearly 92), Pakistan under him have collectively progressed. And with Danish Kaneria (11 wickets at 36.0), Kamran Akmal (264 runs at 63.0 and 11 catches) and Salman Butt (300 runs at 60.0) all in their early 20s -arguably making them the three most talented young players in the world in each discipline of the game - the possibilities for that progress graph to keep going up are endless.

Couple all of the above with the assured presence of coach Bobby Woolmer, whose fan club in this country is rising exponentially with time, and at this rate it wouldn’t be long before he is considered for honorary Pakistani citizenship, and you can immediately foresee a bright future. If only we can find another opener, and keep these bowlers fit (mentally and physically) then these futuristic dreams might see an early translation. Until then, this series victory must be rejoiced for what it is, something truly special.

It was something truly special and pleasantly surprising. What is surprising is not that Pakistan have beaten England, but that they actually rallied together as a team. THe big surprise here is Shoaib Akhtar. I must say that he was one of the players who, even though I disliked him, could not help but watch when he was bowling.

I remembered telling my friends that if shoaib can get his head screwed on straight, England are in for a tough time, because he is a bowler who can get you wickets any time, and I suspect even with a tennis ball.

'The only lion in the forest' factor was also crucial. Pakistan always had talentbut were mostly directionless.

One point I must disagree with; England don't (even arguably) have the best bowling atack in the world. With Simon Jones, their seam attack is lethal in places where there are green pitches. I think the two best attacks are Pakistan's and Australia's.

You cannot say an attack which picks a spinner who would not have merited a place in any of the first class teams of either Pakistan or India, is even close to the best in the world. Yes, I am talking about Ashley Giles. Shaun Udal is a debutant, and you have to excuse him. I, however cannot understand the repeated inclusion of Ashley Giles. It tells you all you need to know about the English media that they hail a spinner for taking 10 wickets in 5 Ashes tests at over 50 each. England desperately need to find a spinner who can use subcontinental conditions. Until then, their dream of world domination will remain just that, a dream.

England are a good side with a great seam atack. Pakistan did tremendously well to score against them. The series, however, was won by the bowlers, and Shoaib and Kaneria stand out tall.

Lion? But...
1) Lions do not intimidate and devour other 'Lions'.
2) Lions only run out of their caves, and as a general rule they move quickly.
3) Lions don't get angry at being compared to potatoes and carry bats to hit out at hecklers.

Seriously though, he must be something more than the last Lion. He is like Simba The Lion King, a true leader. And he was fortunate to have had a great Mufasa nurture him in youth - Imran Khan!

Zainub, your post reminded me of the logo that is sometimes seen on Pak dressing room t-shirts - "proud to be a Pakistani". Way to go.

But while I have highest regard for Kamran and his talent, it is no fault of Taibu that at age 22 he has already played for so many years for Zim. Although a senior he is still very young, he is a wicket-keeper and boy, is he talented both with the gloves and the bat!

Salman Butt will get found out soon enough and will disappear into domestic cricket. I hope he proves me wrong.

We all know that Pakistan cricket team is the most talented side in world cricket and they have the ability to beat any team on any given day but we are used to seeing this sort of statement being associated with Pakistan's ODI outfit.

As the current generation of cricketers were brought to fame due to One day cricket it was always a tough ask to get them to translate their success in the Test arena. Given the fact the exhibition of talent will need to be sustained through out 5 days to beat the best team in the world which was England it was always going to be mission impossible.

The admirers and fans alike have been disappointed so many times at their appalling test performance that nobody would have predicted such outcome. Nobody would conjecture that it could have been 3-0 instead of 2-0 had time been aplenty in the 2nd test.

Lets disregard that test ranking does exist because even if it does it will bear no significance unless it truly reflects the sheer magnitude of Pakistan's performance against England.

If Pakistan could achieve this in flattest of pitches then they should be able to win matches elsewhere. We should if anything welcome Pakistan's entrance as the emerging leader of test cricket as with England and Australia it will be good viewing seeing these quality teams fight for glory.

Hello from Darwin Australia.
I watched most of this series on television. I believe one of the reasons for Pakistan's success was the positive body language throughout by Shoaib Akhtar. So often he appears unfit, exhausted, dejected, upset; this can have a detrimental effect on the rest of the team and I have no doubt it has in the past.
And, of course Inzamam's leadership by example with the bat was also a significant factor.
Congratulations Pakistan. You outplayed our number one cricketing foe and thoroughly deserved the victory.
Enjoy the moment!!

Tiabu has 'retired' from test cricket, hasn't he?

Sakeb,

I big fan of King of Spain…Giles, is not the best spinner in the world, far from it, but as Giles him self says, if there was an English Shane Warne, he wouldn’t have hidden him under his staircase. He would have got picked. Fact is he is the best England have got.

And I disagree that you must have a world class spinner to have the best attack in the world. The great West Indian sides of the 70s and 80s did not have any spinners, let alone a world class one, yet they dominated the game like anything.

Taibu retired from Zim cricket, and rumours abound that he is going to play for Bangladesh. I just cannot imagine a player like him retiring at such an age.

In such an eventuality poor Khaled Mashud, a fighter who had a big hand in Bangladesh winning the ICC trophy in 1997, may have to pay dearly for rumblings in some far-off land.

Kudos to the Pakistani squad-they've pulled off their greatest triumph, metaphorically as well as practically, in several years.

The batting finally clicked; the opening pair yielded several 50+ stands, the middle order, led by Inzi, scored big runs, and the tail wagged strongly (Rana-42 off 38, Shoaib averaging 21, for example).

The bowling was a revelation for all-Shoaib in particular, who has been rightly heralded from all quarters for a magnificent performance. Kaneria was match-winning, as he has been all year, and Rana Naveed finally tranlated his ODI brilliance into Test performance. Shabbir, in his only appearance, grabbed four wickets. Gul, Yassir Arafat, and Mohammad Asif never played-which underlies Pakistan's bench-strength in the bowling department.

The fielding was sharp, committed, and alert throughout the series, and but for lapses in Faisalabad would have remained unblemished.

This is one of those times when I feel proud to be a Pakistani; proud to be a cricketer; proud to be a cricket fanatic; proud to be obssessed with the game and all its minutiae; proud to be a Pakistani supporter; proud to have believed in our wildly erratic bunch. Thank you, team.

Bob Woolmer deserves special credit-he has had a huge impact on the team's discipline by trusting them, letting them believe in themselves, letting them EXPRESS their talents fully, by forging an understanding with Inzamam, by nurturing the flood of talent that is bursting to reveal itself.
Players like Afrdi and Malik, formerly wasted potential, have been turned into genuine matchwinners.

Yes, Pakistan cricket has come a long way from the doldrums of the horrific 2003 World Cup.

It is a time to celebrate, to rejoice.
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But it is also a time to think rationally. One talks about learning from mistakes; here Pakistan must learn from their success.

As England have so painfully found out, one resounding series win at home against a top-class Test side does not mean that they are world-beaters. They must win against all opposition, all over the world, on different kinds of wickets to claim bragging rights.

Consistency is obviously a key; we will have to reproduce this unity, this collective effort for a long time to come.

We must also remember that there were several outside factors that had already tilted the series in Pakistan's favor, before the first ball had been bowled.

First of all, England have not, as many have claimed, been a truly world-class side for the past two years. They won a solitary series away from home against quality opposition (South Africa), and that too was a 1-0 victory in a 5-match series. All of the other wins were at home, except for a weak West Indies in the Caribbean.

They have been confined here in hotel rooms for the length of their stay; like it or not, but staying indoors DOES have an impact on performance in the field.

The England pace attack, used to bowling in seamer-friendly conditions, simply could not cope with the dead wickets and lacked the skills necessary to conjure wickets here.

Add to that the fact that Simon Jones, the reverse-swing specialist and third strike bowler, was injured.

On wickets where quality spin would have been more than helpful, England lacked any spinner worthy of credit-Giles,to me, has never been useful for anything but plugging up one end, and here he was destroyed.

As, indeed, was Shaun Udal-he won't look back on this series with fond memories (except his debut wicket).

Pakistan, naturally had the home advantage.

It must not be forgotten that this batting lineup has yet to be seriously tested in bowler-friendly conditions (Inzamam and Yousuf apart) after consecutive series on flat pitches in India, West Indies, and now at home.

Mohammad Sami's lack of penetration and continual waywardness in both line and length continues to be a worry.

For Pakistan to even think about consistent success, they need a stable opening partnership, something that has not been seen here for a long time. Plus, the team cannot depend on Inzamam and Yousuf to launch a rescue every time. Younis Khan failed to score a half-century here in four innings, Hasan Raza was clearly out of sorts in a Test environment, and Asim Kamal has never looked anything but a No. 6 batsman.

As mentioned above, the fielding remains a worry, although the times when Pakistan routinely gifted over 50 runs in the field with extras and lackadaisical efforts have passed.

Again, as England has found out, it does not pay to get ahead of oneself. There's a long way to go for Pakistan cricket, and this series has just provided a hint of what the team has to offer.
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I can't wait.

Nabeel,

England won 2-1 in SA, not 1-0.

Taibu is not be going to be selected for Bangladesh cricket team anyway. He is not even a Bngladeshi citizen yet so it would be wise not to listen such rumours as they are wildest of imaginations at best.

Despite Pakistan's recent performances being anything but outstanding doubts remain about their batting lineup.

While Salman Butt has solved the opening problem partially Shoaib Malik does not seem to be the answer and his bowling coming under further examination, its fitting that if we do include Shoaib Malik in the team, we do so on the basis of him being a specialist batsmen and his bowling can be a mere bonus if anything.

Shahid Afridi is too talented a cricketer to be left out and we need to give him an unrestricted license to cause mayhem and destruction with the bat and i am sure he will repay us with some scintillating knocks.

So Given that Afridi is so effective as no. 6 and he can also open if required to score quick runs in the 2nd innings he should be a permanent batsmen in the side if fit.

That leaves 2 vacancies in the batting order. Younis Knan should not be taken for granted as the ideal no 3. In fact Younis Khan has better technique to play as an opener then Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Malik is a much better no.3 but he is very vulnerable as an opener. So we should rearrange the batting order and push Younis Khan to open and since Woolmer is so keen to keep Malik in the team, we should keep him as no. 3 and if he fails to deliver then we have Hasan Raza or Asim Kamal to look forward to.

Afridi is the ideal 5th bowler and we need 5 bowlers to reduce the workload from Shoaib Akhtar. Sami and Naved can bowl as diligently as ever. Since neither Afridi not Malik is an specialist batsment Pakistan test team looks like their ODI outfit except Abdur Razzaq.

I completely ignored Abdur Razzaq but if he is it we cant ignore him either.

sorry Zainub, memory lapse.
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@Ghalib:
As I have mentioned on another post in the blog, I still do not feel that Sami merits a place in the Test first-choice XI on the basis of his performances in the past year. He has been useful only for maybe two or three wickets per game; useful, but guilty of too much slack. With genuinely good pace bowlers like Shabbir and Gul fit and pressing for selection, he might have to raise his performances. I haven't even considered Yassir Arafat, Shahid Nazir, and Mohammad Asif-the last being the most improved bowler in the country according to Woolmer.
We have depth, and it is time we used it.

The good part about the present Pakistan team is the number of all-rounders.
Afridi is a genuine allrounder, and so is Razzaq. Shoaib Malik is a competent restrictive spinner and has potential as a batsman. Now if they find another genuine opener to partner Butt, they could be really good. BTW, what happened to Imran Farhat? And Taufeeq Umar? Both used to be nice openers, with decent techniques, and played from the V.

Taufeeq and Imran are playing domestic cricket, and I'm presuming they are both behind Yasir Hameed in the pecking order. There is also this kid called Riffatullah who seems to have impressed Inzi. Also, look out for Bazid Khan, son of Majid.

I've seen Bazid Khan bat, and wasn't awfully impressed.

Yasir Hameed has the strokes no doubt, but seems too much of a big-hits fellow to make it good in test crickets (and I am ready to eat my words on Yasir someday, we in India once said the same thing about Sehwag!).

congrats to pak for amazing performance.
i really cant see england winning even one odi match.
my prediction 5-0 or 4-1 to pakistan

I would just like to give an English perspective on what has happened in this series. Fair dues, Pakistan were the better team, in their conditions, we will get a better idea of how "potent" their attack is over here in ther summer. Until then i shall warm myself on the fact that you will have one of the worst test fast bowler outside of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe as your first change bowler. I would also like to add on the subject of Ashley Giles that he played through the two games he played with a hip injury and remember that last time he bowled in Pakistan he was the top wicket taker for us and out bowled both Saqlain and Danish Kaneria in their own country. He was also a vital part of our attack against Australia in the summer, he may not of taken lots of wickets but that is not his job in this team, his job is too give the seam bowlers a rest. Some of the pitches that we played on in the summer only Mr Warne himself would get any turn out of. So as i say lets wait until the end of the test series until we judge who is the better team and until then, don't be suprised if England spring a suprise in the One dayer's and that James Anderson will be troubling a few more Pakistani batsmen.

Alistair Rocker,

You made some valid points and they are well appreciated. But no matter how you cut, I just don't see England having the kind of talent necessary to beat other teams consistently. When you have batting backups like Solanki who averages 35 in first class and 29 in List A cricket, you know you have a potential problem. Flintoff is a once-in-a-generation cricketer while Pieterson is wearing England colors as a result of speacial circumstances. Compared to Australia, Pakistan and India, England are way behind in terms of natural talent, for eg. the natural ability to sight the ball early. Most of England's players have enjoyed success by being mechanical and disciplined. Sometimes you need that extra spark, that natural exuberance to win on the international scene. Something like Ivaneseic's natrual exuberance versus Henman's workhorse-like attitude. You know who's the better athlete of the two.

First off, to Mr. Rocker, Pakistan won 5 series'in a row until we were handed the dubious honour of a 2-Test series which we drew 1-1 with 8 wickets after tea on the last day. As the Americans say, in England we OWN you in both forms of the game. Grow up or know History.
I think we should open with Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal (against India) Yasir Hameed is too loose and too flashy and Malik is just useless period. If anything , the sight of Butt and Akmal talking to themselves incessantly as the bowler runs in has to be the most entertaining viewing in cricket since the Great Srikkanth's mixture of epilepsy and electroucution.
Please Do Not Let Abdul Razzaq play against India!!
One of the main reasons we won 2-0 against the English was because Razzaq was nowhere to be found!!
Finally, we were very lucky that the English could not chase 200 in that First Test, and that Strauss thought that the birth of his first child required him to be in attendance, when to my knowledge, it is the Wife who gives birth , and Doctors and Nurses who do the job of delivery and recovery and that the Husband normally operates a silly video camera. Abandoning your team in the midst of a Winning streak just shows how much England thought of Pakistan. One wonders if Mr. Strauss would have done the same if it had been the Boxing Day Test.
Between Vaughan's knee and Struss's baby, the English did themselves in, if you ask me, like their Fans, after the Ashes, they simply could not be bothered.