Pakistan completed its first ever series victory in the Caribbean when Yasir Shah breached the defenses of Shannon Gabriel on the last ball of the penultimate over of the Roseau Test on May 14, 2017. It was yet another feather on Misbah-ul-Haq’s cap as captain of Pakistan’s Test team.

He was the calm after the storm in Pakistan cricket, the man who steadied the ship after the ignominious English summer of 2010. And here he was, celebrating another historic victory with his mates. But this wasn’t just another celebration. This was also his last day as a Test cricketer, his last hurrah.

Sharing the moment with him was another great, Younis Khan, also bidding farewell to the game. The celebration was for these two great players and what they had given to their team, their country and to cricket over the last two decades. As the Pakistan players carried these two heroes on their shoulders, one wondered what will become of this team without their guidance, and indeed without their leadership.

Misbah finished his career as the most successful Test captain for Pakistan and Younis the highest run-getter. Together these two created a culture of hard work and discipline in Pakistan cricket which was the bedrock for the success achieved under Misbah’s captaincy.

This culture is their legacy, their gift, which has been passed down to the next generation. It is now up to them to carry Pakistan cricket forward and build on the success of the “Misbah Era”.

The ongoing series against Sri Lanka marks the passing of the baton on to a new generation. Central to Pakistan’s fortunes in the new era is a man cast in Misbah-ul-Haq’s mould

It will not be an easy task to achieve and the transition period will be a difficult one. The captaincy has been handed over to Sarfraz Ahmed who has already been leading the limited-overs sides quite successfully. The bowling attack also seems to be in fine fettle with the likes of Amir, Yasir and Hassan Ali expected to feature regularly. The greatest challenge it seems would be the batting.

The departure of Misbah and Younis has left a great void in the middle order, at least for now. Only time will tell who will fill their shoes and become the backbone of the batting lineup. However, we can predict the likely candidates by analysing the evidence we have through statistics.

During the “Misbah Era” a number of young batsmen played for Pakistan. There were 11 batsmen who featured regularly and scored at least 400 runs over this period (see table 1).

The top four on the list — Azhar, Asad, Hafeez and Sarfraz — not only scored the most runs but they have also the best averages during this time. Ahmed Shehzad, too, has a decent average but that is credited to his performances in 2013-14. Since 2015, he has only played five Tests and has only two fifty plus scores to show for it. He will need to score more regularly just to ensure he remains in the side.

It is still early days for Babar Azam and Sami Aslam. Babar has had an outstanding start to his limited overs career but is yet to translate that success into Test cricket. Sami has shown glimpses of his concentration and ability to occupy the crease but with only 11 Tests under his belt, he is still a rookie who will take his time to settle in the team.

Based on their current numbers, they cannot be considered genuine contenders, not at this point at least. The remaining players on the list are either no longer in the team plans or have not made any significant contributions to be considered as future prospects. This brings us back to the top four, of which Hafeez played his last Test for Pakistan in August 2016, leaving us with Azhar, Asad and Sarfraz as the likeliest candidates.

Based on the numbers, Azhar clearly leads the pack. He has scored the most runs, has the highest average, the most centuries and has faced the most deliveries during this era. He is a league above the other batsmen. Just to put it into perspective, his average of 49.23 is 6.72 runs better than Sarfraz Ahmed who is second best. His aggregate of 4,677 runs is 1,246 runs higher than Asad Shafiq’s who is at second place. His 14 centuries are four centuries more than the next best (Asad Shafiq).

To top it off, he has faced a total of 11,174 deliveries during this time which is even higher than Misbah and Younis. He is the one standout batsman to perform at par with Younis and Misbah during this period (see table 2).

During the early phase of his career he played under the shadows of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. But since January 2015, he has outperformed the two greats and has been Pakistan’s leading batsman (see table 3).

He has scored the most runs and has the highest average. He has also scored the most hundreds during this time. In a batting order which includes Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, this is indeed a great achievement. Just to get an idea of how good he has been, he has scored at an average of 57.21 which is 10.58 runs higher than Younis Khan’s 46.63, the next best during this period.

Undoubtedly, he has been the best Pakistani batsman since January 2015, but how does he fare when matched against his contemporaries? Especially when compared with the four great batsmen of this generation i.e. Smith, Williamson, Kohli and Root (see table 4).

Clearly, his numbers put him in the company of the best batsmen of this age. He is the only Pakistan batsman to score 2,000 or more runs since January 2015. Within this exclusive list, Azhar is fourth best in terms of averages. Two of the three better than him are Williamson and Smith. The averages of Kohli and Root are slightly lower than Azhar’s, placing him perfectly between the great quartet. Alistair Cook, David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have scored more runs but at a significantly lower average than Azhar. He is easily among the top 10 best batsmen since January 2015 in terms of aggregate runs and batting average.

Azhar has scored 4,968 runs throughout his Test career at an average of 46.86. Almost all of his runs have been scored either as an opener or at number three (see table 5).

Not only has he scored valuable runs at the top, he has done it facing the new ball against the likes of James Anderson, Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad and Mitchell Starc. It is yet to be seen whether he continues playing in this position under Sarfraz’s captaincy, but all evidence points to the fact that Pakistan will look at him to shoulder the burden of the batting. He is undoubtedly the best candidate to be the torchbearer of Pakistan’s batting in this new era. Will he extend his hands to carry the torch which is being handed to him?

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 1st, 2017