The low tide that hit Pakistan in Sri Lanka after the Twenty20 World Cup high is something the followers of the game have come to accept as a routine affair. The 0-2 scoreline as such has not caused much heartburn. Life goes on for the nation just as it does for captain Younis Khan who remains cheerful and chirpy even when nothing is going right for the unit under his command.

Just weeks ago when the team was on the verge of losing its way in the World Cup, he ridiculed the Twenty20 format, calling it nothing more than fun cricket, insisting that he had never taken it seriously and stressing that Test cricket was the format that was close to his heart. The loss of Test series after a string of batting implosions, however, did nothing to dampen his cheerfulness and he talked of positives that, he said, he could take forward from the defeat.

“It would have been nice for Pakistan, if we had won,” he said after the last match where Pakistan, trailing 0-2, failed to grab a consolation win, when it failed to bowl Sri Lanka out in five sessions. In fact, Pakistan could take only four wickets despite bowling 134 overs at the Lankans. “We can draw some positives from this match, especially in the second innings where we scored 400. There were special innings from Misbahul Haq, Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik, and their hitting form is crucial for us. With the ODIs and the Twenty20 approaching, I am relieved that they got runs.”

So, in his own words, it is the longer version that he prefers while playing Twenty20 and when it comes to Test cricket, he takes it as an opportunity to prepare for the shorter version. This may sound very positive and intelligent to Younis Khan, but when one utters such contradictory gems in public and under full media glare, one should be ready for the flak. The egg is certainly on Younis Khan's face.

This is not to suggest that the PCB should start looking for options. Far from it. The national team's track record over the last  couple of decades clearly proves the point that whether it registers a thumping win or an ignominious loss, neither of it has anything to do with planning. It is almost always out of individual brilliance that Pakistan goes up and when that does not come around, we lose. The recent victory at the Twenty20 Cup was a result of sudden change in Shahid Afridi's approach, attitude and execution. Wasn't it? There will be few, if any, who will have the guts to call it a result of some planning. In Sri Lanka, no individual could last the distance and the team lost. Simple. The captain didn't matter in either case.

A brief analysis of the team's top six run-getters in the series would be interesting. These were Shoaib (262), Mohammad Yousuf (253), Fawad Alam (216), Misbah (158), Khurram Manzoor (153) and Younis (131). Most of them had one good innings of note that gave them their runs. For instance, 78 per cent of Fawad's tally came in just one outing. The corresponding figures for the other five are 63 per cent for Younis, 61 per cent for Khurram, 51 per cent for Shoaib, 44 per cent for Yousuf and 41 per cent for Misbah. Three of them — Shoaib, Misbah and Khurram — came good in the third Test when the cause had already been lost, which is not only easier because the intensity of the opponents is less, but is also vital in terms of saving their skins.

Compare these statistics with the rival camp where only 39 per cent of Kumar Sangakkara's 331 runs came in a single outing. Corresponding data for the other five on the list is equally impressive 30 per cent for Paranavitana (242), 33 per cent for Mathews (191), 38 per cent for Dilshan (114), 43 per cent for Samaraweera (171), and 47 per cent for Jayawardene (167).

Among the bowlers, the highest wicket-takers for Pakistan were Saeed Ajmal (14), Umer Gul and Danish Kaneria (7 each) and Mohammad Aamer (6). Among them Saeed was the only one to feature on the board in each of his six innings. Gul had four in one innings and three in the other five, while all of Aamer's wickets came in the first match alone. For Sri Lanka, Kulasekara headed the pack with 17, followed by Herath and Thushara with 15 and 12 respectively.

It is quite obvious that while Pakistanis were patchy in their approach — if one came good, the rest took it lightly — the Lankans were consistent in both batting and bowling. Besides, they knew what the plan was and what each individual was supposed to do. The Pakistanis didn't.

A captain is only as good as the total of his players. If they remain consistently inconsistent, his hand is seriously restricted. On his part as the captain, Younis Khan can at least do a couple of things one, stop being overly cheerful in his comments when there is nothing to be cheerful about; and, two, stop attempting that ugly reverse sweep that cost Pakistan the second Test and the series.