Pakistan tour of England concluded with the biggest win for visiting team in the shortest format of the game. In the only T-20 match, Pakistan steam rolled England and won the match with their biggest margin of victory in terms of wickets in hand; they achieved victory having nine wickets in hand and finished the series on high note.
Considering the performance of Pakistan in the series in all formats, team seemed very competitive and at times showed dominance in the Test matches and leveled the series in English conditions and Misbah ul Haq lead the team at unprecedented heights, they are at top of the ICC Test rankings. Considering the fact that team is unable to play in Pakistan due to security concerns from last seven years. Cricket pundits were praising efforts of Pakistan to achieve the top ranking for the first time since the introduction of ICC rankings system.
When it comes to white ball cricket, England showed complete dominance in the One Day Internationals (ODIs) and comprehensively bagged the series by winning first four matches. Pakistan achieved solitary victory in the last ODI match of the series and achieved the target of above 300 runs after ages.
It seems great contrast in the rankings of ODI and Test when it comes to team Pakistan; they are at 9th spot in the ODI rankings. This should be the biggest worry for team management and coaches because in the next World Cup which is going to be held in England, only top eight teams till September 30 next year would enjoy direct entry into the mega event. While rest of the teams would contest in the qualifying round in order to confirm their berth in the World Cup. Pakistan’s next series is against West Indies in UAE, we wish that team Pakistan would perform best in all the formats.
Test team seems stable but team management and coaches have a lot to ponder to bring ODI team on winning track.
