Pakistan cricket rises from the ashes
Pakistan have long been regarded as a talented yet inconsistent side, but through a combination of sheer hard work, application and a little help from some inclement Caribbean weather, the South Asian side sit atop the test rankings for a first time.
By : migrator
Update: 2016-08-23 16:31 GMT
Karachi
Misbah-ul-Haq’s men thrashed hosts England at the Oval, the venue of one of the country’s darkest moments in cricket, earlier this month to earn a 2-2 draw in the four-test series and prove to many that they can compete on any surface.
Last Wednesday, Sri Lanka completed a 3-0 whitewash of table-topping Australia to allow India to go top of the ICC rankings and when four straight days of rain denied the Indians a 3-0 series win in the West Indies, Pakistan were elevated to the top of the pile without bowling a ball.
“This is what cricketers play for and want to achieve in their careers. It is a reward for something we had planned as a group a few years ago and have worked extremely hard to achieve it,” Misbah told reporters of the rise to the top.
Unable to play at home since a 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore and shorn of bowling prospect Mohammad Amir in the wake of a damaging spot-fixing scandal at the Oval in 2010, Pakistan have ploughed a lonely furrow in cricket’s wilderness.
Undaunted by the isolation, Amir has returned after serving a five-year ban and immediately added fire to a formidable pace attack that, supplemented by the guile of imposing leg-spinner Yasir Shah, can run through any batting order.
Pakistan have capitalised on the dust bowl pitches in their UAE surrogate home to see off all-comers.
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