Pakistan should dominate the one-day series in UAE © Associated Press

Pakistan embark on their busiest period of international cricket for several years. This is a relief for Pakistan cricket fans who have been deprived of seeing their team play regularly and further deprived of a team that is able to develop. It will be a tough antipodean summer of cricket for Pakistan, who traditionally struggle on these tours -- and that's with a settled and confident team.

As ever, the current squad has potential but this one looks light in the fast bowling department. Provided the first rank of bowlers stay fit, Pakistan should dominate the one-day series in UAE. The dormant tracks will ease the pressure on Pakistan's brittle batting order, which accomodates a curious return for Imran Farhat. It seems the Pakistan selectors are never sure who their best batsmen are. The omissions of Fawad Alam and Imran Nazir are baffling.

On a brighter note, Younis Khan has made an expected return to the captaincy after his recent show of brinkmanship. Younis must now avoid future distractions and focus on building a team that can seriously challenge for the 2011 World Cup and become a force in Test cricket. He has been promised a two-year window to forge his team. That is time enough as the next 12 months will be a serious test of his vision, strategy, decision-making, and strength of character.

Pakistan's reinforced captain has stated that the upcoming series is not about revenge for the Champions Trophy, but the heat of the UAE will be Pakistan's closest stab at home advantage over the next months against a team that they can beat. A false start here will be an ominous omen for the challenges to come. Pakistan need a strong start to their international labours, and if revenge is a motivation then so be it.

	Younis can return © AFP

The best of times are usually followed by the worst of times. This is Pakistan cricket. Something in the Pakistani psyche will inevitably prevent a delicate flower from blooming. Cricket is so fundamental to this nation’s identity that everybody wants a slice of cricket’s luxurious pie. Politicians, bureaucrats, and administrators want their 15 minutes of fame — though infamy is more common.

Meritless chancers choose cricket as their passport to power and glory. Nothing provides a greater thrill to these self-deluded fools than the belief that they have brought a national champion to his knees.

Pakistan cricket’s history is punctuated with such insulting tragedies, the most poignant being that of Imran Khan, the Sher of Pakistan, deciding to retire from international cricket after winning the 1992 World Cup.

Imran was 40 and his bowling had begun to evoke memories of Mudassar Nazar, but as a batsman and a leader his job in mentoring future champions was unfinished. But Pakistan cast him adrift, questioning his personal motives and viewing a hero with a scoundrel’s contempt. Imran’s pride, his greatest asset and his perennial weakness, forced him to say he’d had enough.

I once heard a parable of why ability is rarely a criterion for progress in Pakistan, why merit counts for nothing. It is not the whole explanation, of course, but an important part of it.

Imagine a ladder reaching up to the heavens, with all the millions of people of Pakistan condemned to an eternity of clambering to the top, an exhausting desperate existence. The first person to reach the summit will liberate his people from this ladder-climbing hell but will also become king and master of his nation.

In the heavenly ladders of other nations, people reach the top to bring succour to their fellows. They achieve this through co-operation and a realisation that the best of them should reach the summit for the common good. There are some false starts, and some progress to their goal faster than others, but they move towards liberation from their plight.

On the Pakistani ladder, people climb forever, a purgatory of perpetual struggle without reward. Pakistanis of all hues and tongues rush to the top, trampling over their weaker countrymen, pushing many off the ladder to their deaths a thousand miles below.

Some are pure geniuses, racing up the ladder with skill and artistry unseen on any other heavenly ladder. But each time a Pakistani nears the top, a hundred, nay a thousand bitter hands reach upwards, making a superhuman effort to grab their fellow, drag him back, and plunge him into the darkness below.

Nobody reaches the top. Nobody succeeds. Nobody brings solace to a troubled people.

This then is the state of Pakistan, the mindset of Mr Jamshed Dasti, a supposedly honourable parliamentarian. It is the mindset that pervades too much of Pakistani society and cricket.

Why let a good man succeed when you can’t succeed yourself?

I commend Younis Khan for standing by his principles. The laws of libel and slander are too weak to protect anybody’s reputation in Pakistan. I would have commended him too if he had decided to stay and battle his adversaries. No evidence has been presented, no grounds for a character assassination.

The attack on the integrity of Pakistan’s cricketers was unleashed by a frivolous media report, a report seized upon by a dismal political creed that chooses to devote its time to investigating cricketers when the country is in crisis. The investigations that are urgently required, however, are of the politicians, bureaucrats, and administrators who destroy every bright new dawn. But that reckoning will not come.

No resignation or retirement is the last word in Pakistan cricket. I imagine Javed Miandad in perpetual preparation to come back to lead Pakistan and bat at No.4 against Australia. That isn’t about to happen. But Younis can return. Pakistan needs him.

It is Mr Dasti and his ridiculous parliamentary committee who should resign or be sacked for giving dumb credence to a scurrilous story. And if the rumours are true about the role of the PCB in destabilising Younis, those self-appointed busy bodies should hang their heads in shame. What have they achieved, what talent do they possess, compared with the men they seek to fling off the heavenly ladder?

Younis is no Imran but his story has echoes of the past in the manner of how a triumphant captain is dethroned. What gives the system abusers, who sit in positions of power without mandate, the right to malign the reputation of a cricketer who has delivered a World Cup and a world of prestige? If this is the fate of a hero what hope for the common man or woman?

Once again nobody reaches the top, nobody succeeds, and nobody brings solace to a troubled people.

Pakistan fans should not be too despondent at their team's defeat to Australia. Playing any international sport occasionally puts you at a disadvantage and that's before we consider the issue of neutral venues.

Most importantly, Pakistan managed to play out a scheduled series without disruption, and a blueprint has been established for the survival of Pakistan cricket until the domestic environment improves.

Had it not been for their traditional batting frailty, Pakistan would have easily won this series against a weakened Australian team. But batting skills probably suffer most from any absence from the international circuit.

As Pakistan showed in two of the matches, it is possible to gloss over frailties and lack of match practice in the shorter forms of cricket. When Pakistan return to Test cricket we will then know the true extent of their plight.

Nonetheless, it is important to take positives from this series. In particular, the spin combination of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal helped Pakistan remain competitive throughout.

Afridi, now certainly a senior statesman, extracted more turn than he usually has. We will need more evidence before we can decide if it was the environment or Abdul Qadir's influence. Ajmal impressed too, and if he can avoid a damning verdict from ICC's technical committee he will be an important addition to Pakistan's squad.

On the batting front, there was little of genuine cheer other than the final match-winning partnership between Kamran Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq, which helped Pakistan succeed from a position that usually sees them fail.

For many fans, Akmal's presence in the team defies the logic of his performances but he occasionally produces an innings of this nature that makes you wonder how valuable he could be if he could master both his trades at once.

Misbah, too, has flattered to deceive in his own way, often taking Pakistan to the brink of victory but succumbing to stupidity on the threshold of an individual triumph. Here both men held their nerve to finish the series with a respectable result for Pakistan.

The future, provided that it includes regular international cricket and the return of Pakistan's ICL cricketers, can be viewed with a degree of confidence by Pakistan. Indeed, Younis Khan's team should be able to develop into a potent force in limited overs cricket. It is in the Test arena that their lack of opportunities will hurt them.

After many false dawns, Pakistan cricket will confront its new way of life. It is fitting that the moment arrives against Australia, the country that plunged Pakistan cricket out of its period of glory with the double blow of the 1999 World Cup Final defeat and the match-fixing controversy whose flames were lit with approaches to Australian cricketers.

Now, while the rest of the world's cricketers strut in the surreal atmosphere of the IPL in South Africa, Australia have honoured a commitment to play Pakistan in the desert. Too little too late, will be the reaction of many Pakistan fans, but Pakistan cricket is currently eager to dine out even on breadcrumbs.

Nor is this time for self-pity. Pakistan's cricketers may justifiably feel that domestic and international circumstances are conspiring to crush their spirit, yet the Age of Khan must also be the Age of Pragmatism. Here is where the survival instinct must kick in and a desire to hold your head up high in the face of the storm.

Pakistan's players must seize any opportunity to compete on the international stage, and play with the passion and flair that will make their supporters proud and fill them with hope. Ironically, Pakistan may benefit from playing fewer matches as each contest will be seen to be precious rather than the excess that they had become used to.

Ultimately, this period will be a test of leadership. We cannot expect any from the PCB, hence Younis Khan must seize the day and lead the fight for Pakistan cricket's recovery.

This could be your moment Younis. Take it.

	Younis Khan has the opportunity to make the highest score by a Pakistan batsman © AFP

Karachi's pitch may have killed the match but it has rejuvenated Younis Khan. His triple hundred will always be diminished by this docile track despite the pressure of chasing down a total of over 600. It shouldn't be. Much more illustrious Pakistan teams and batsmen have crumbled on as friendly surfaces. The pressure of the situation has been too great and their strength of character too weak. Indeed, which other Pakistan batsman has threatened to score a century?

Meanwhile, Younis has devoured this challenge with an innings that could earn him the highest ever score by a Pakistani. It would be well deserved. The new captaincy, a selection row, criticism of his leadership in the field, a score of over six hundred, and the bowling combination of Murali and Mendis have all made this innings a test of Younis' mental strength and character. He has passed with a flourish and an ever present smile.

His square drive to reach a century and reverse sweep to the triple hundred were typical Younis: classical yet innovative and fearless. The road to recovery for Pakistan cricket will be long and interrupted by failure. But Younis Khan has already shown that he is a man with the guts to lead Pakistan cricket out of the living hell of the past two years.

	Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera hit double-centuries in Karachi © AFP

The Pakistan Cricket Board has introduced a daily lottery to attract spectators. The next marketing strategy might be to pay people to attend? If that didn't work, the PCB would have to admit it has a team that nobody wants to watch. The best marketing strategy, without doubt, is to have a successful and exciting cricket team. Younis Khan's new team may be some way from either of those labels but this is just the beginning.

Karachi's pitch has been easy paced and the bounce has been friendly, a graveyard for most bowlers, not just Pakistan's assortment of characters with something to prove. It is a pitch that allows a bowler of high pace or sharp turn to make a genuine difference. Pakistan have neither of world class in this match.

Yet it is tough to return to Test cricket after 14 months, and some of the disciplines will take a while to return. Add that to the excellence of Sri Lanka's batting, and you can see why the lottery of choosing an inexperienced attack might fail.

The real test of Younis Khan's team will come when they face Murali and Mendis. A huge total will offer Sri Lanka's world class bowlers the freedom to attack, while creating immense pressure for Pakistan's untried batting line-up. Indeed, Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria have shown that the pitch will become increasingly receptive to good spin bowling.

There can be few bigger challenges in international cricket - even for a team with a new found solidarity forged in an isolation camp. The Age of Khan begins with a monumental struggle.

	An out and out rookie, Ahmed Shehzad, adds to the fascination, a typically random Pakistani punt © Cricinfo Ltd.

After a year of impatient waiting, Pakistan's cricketers return to Test cricket at a venue that has robbed them of more matches than any other. Taking on a variable Sri Lankan team would have been challenge enough but Pakistan's selectors and captain have added to the task by conjuring an inexperienced team from their immediate disagreements.

The relationship between Younis Khan and Abdul Qadir will be interesting to observe, as both have strong opinions and are prone to actions inspired by emotion rather than cool reflection. At least, there will be no shortage of passion.

On balance, though, the outcome is intriguing. Yes, Kamran Akmal's selection continues to confound reason. Faisal Iqbal is an unexpected recall. And Sohail Tanvir's omission seems unduly harsh. Nonetheless, the selection strikes a populist note by recalling Fawad Alam and Asim Kamal, and offering opportunities to Sohail Khan and Mohammad Talha. An out and out rookie, Ahmed Shehzad, adds to the fascination, a typically random Pakistani punt.

Surely, Pakistan's isolation camp will not be enough to transform this wealth of inexperience into a winning combination against the old hands of Sri Lanka? Yet the final fifteen all have something to prove, none more than experienced players like Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Danish Kaneria, and Kamran Akmal.

With Sri Lanka focused on fond farewells to their excellent captain, Pakistan's hunger for Test cricket and success should give Younis Khan the opportunity to make a fighting start in a series that his team will not be expected to win.

Absence, however, makes the crowd grow hungrier too, and Pakistan's fans are notoriously unforgiving--and this is an occasion that requires patience. Pakistan have the right captain, and now they must find the right players. The question is how much tolerance and understanding the public and media will show as Pakistan cricket enters another era of rebuilding? But giving the current squad an opportunity is a decent enough beginning to the Age of Khan.

It could be any other moment that Younis Khan has been offered the captaincy. Pakistan cricket is in crisis and Darrell Hair is making a play for the headlines. Yet this occasion is much different. Hair's most recent rant is a sideshow and Younis has grabbed the captaincy with both hands. Indeed, his previous reluctance has meant that this ascendancy to the captaincy comes when Pakistan cricket is at the most crucial turning point in its history.

Pakistan's form has been variable for years, nothing new there. Its administration has been dysfunctional, nothing new there either. But this last year has questioned the viability of Pakistan as an international cricket nation. Form and organisation become secondary issues when your very existence is threatened.

Sri Lankan has ridden to Pakistan's rescue when all other major nations have turned away. It is a debt that Pakistan cricket must remain mindful of and repay at the appropriate time.

But as Shoaib Malik discovered, a drought of cricket is accompanied by a deluge of expectations. We should be clear what those expectations are. They are not that Pakistan should crush Sri Lanka into the dust, though a victory would be a joy. The real test of Younis Khan's Pakistan is whether or not it can fight its corner with pride and passion.

Younis, the best batsmen in the current team, has no reason to doubt his place, and the captaincy should bring out the best in his competitive nature. As captain, he is naturally an encourager and cajoler, involved in every development of play.

His example will count for much but he will require the support of his senior colleagues. This is not a moment for Pakistan's cricketers to indulge their private agendas. The condition of Pakistan's cricket is too perilous. It is a moment for unity, spirit, and a reminder that pulling on a green cap is the most important occasion in a Pakistani cricketer's career.

Sri Lanka will be formidable opponents. Younis Khan will need time to settle into his leadership role. But the success of this forthcoming tour should not be judged by the result. It should be judged by the attitude and resolve of Pakistan's players. Reluctant Younis has picked his moment with care. Can he seize it?