For Pakistan fans, usually deprived of anything that can be remotely described as regular cricket, the last six months have been a veritable bonanza. Yes, it grates that each of its Test series in that time – away against New Zealand, home against South Africa, and away against Zimbabwe – were of the two-match variety (a Test series lasting two matches is a bit like a surgeon slicing open a patient but forgetting to stitch them back up, or a chef serving soup and an appetiser but nothing else, or a director ending a film after the second act, or … you get the idea).

But zooming out, Pakistan has played both home and away, against teams good and bad, in each of the sport’s three formats, in vastly differing conditions. Sandwiched in the middle of all that international cricket was the sixth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL). Cricket-starved fans cannot complain, not the least given that we remain in the midst of a global pandemic.

One important benefit of this span of cricket is the clarity it has bestowed. For instance, the evidence of these months strongly suggests that the core of the national side over the next five years, in both red and white ball cricket, will be comprised of these five players (in no particular order):

• Babar Azam
• Mohammad Rizwan
• Faheem Ashraf
• Hasan Ali
• Shaheen Shah Afridi

These names are guaranteed starters in any Pakistan XI, in any conditions, against any side, in any format. Between them, this quintet offers top-order runs, middle-order runs, late-order runs, wickets with the new ball, wickets with the old ball, catches and stumpings behind the wicket, big hearts, team-first commitment, and leadership.

Alongside these considerable strengths, this relatively intense period — not letting up, by the way, with an England tour already underway — has also highlighted glaring defects. In the Test side, for instance, our openers continue to be a problem, a seemingly interminable one now, lasting the two decades since the end of Saeed Anwar. As problematically, we lack an all-conditions spinner, Yasir Shah’s enthusiasm notwithstanding.

What the recently concluded HBL PSL6 has demonstrated is that Pakistan’s most pressing weakness is the lack of a power-hitter in its middle order in white ball, and especially, T20 cricket

In white ball cricket, the category of spin bowling lower-order hitters has recently gone from a strength to a weakness. The incumbents have had struggles with form and fitness (Shadab Khan) or, reportedly, discipline and attitude (Imad Wasim). The pretenders to the throne (Mohammad Nawaz and Danish Aziz) have, as yet, not translated domestic success to international cricket, even against soft opposition such as Zimbabwe.

But given the cricketing calendar, perhaps the most pressing weakness in the national side is the lack of a big hitter in the middle order in white ball, and especially, T20 cricket. Call it the Andre Russell role: come in at four or five, score at a strike rate of (at least) 150, and generally have the perspective that it is violence, not runs, that is the point of batting. These are players who bat as if they get bonus points for hitting the roof of a stadium.

With the onset of the T20 World Cup later this year, perhaps no deficiency deserves greater scrutiny.

The Russell role is arguably the single most important to fill in any contemporary T20 XI, whether international or franchise. It is difficult to conceive of a national side winning a major trophy without one Russellesque player, if not two. India has Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, England has Eoin Morgan and Johnny Bairstow, Australia has Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, New Zealand has Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips, and the West Indies has Kieron Pollard and the Guy After Whom The Role Is Named, just to name a few. Meanwhile, Pakistan has … what exactly?

A year ago, we could have legitimately claimed, with a ramrod straight face, that Mohammad Hafeez is our Andre Russell. Hafeez’s scarcely believable run of T20 form in 2019 and 2020 has, however, seen a downturn since. His decline from 2020 (average: 80, strike rate: 150) to 2021 (average: 13, strike rate: 100) is precipitous. The Professor must know that, at his age, every dip in form will see fans clamouring for him to transition to Emeritus status.

Even if Hafeez were firing on all cylinders, however, it boggles the mind that Pakistan would exclusively rely on him to be a power-hitter. He is on the wrong side of 40, as is the man who would surely carry Russell’s mantle in our T20 side were he a decade younger: one Shahid Afridi. Juxtaposing Afridi with Hafeez, in fact, makes the point stronger: what does it say about Pakistan that our two best hitters at the international level are either long retired or about to be?

The T20 format is not new, nor is its basic tactical trajectory ambiguous. To push 165 to 190 batting first, to finish a challenging chase in a canter, to go from a good to a great T20 team in 2021, requires players who can hit big sixes between overs eight and 18. Shouldn’t we be doing better in producing this type of player?

It’s not for a lack of trying. Selectors, coaches, and captains can put their hands on hearts and attest that they have given each of Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Khushdil Shah a real shot. If any or all of these players don’t play for the national side in the next two years, none can have a legitimate complaint. All of them have been given sufficient rope — not Asad Shafiq-in-the-Test-team rope, but long enough rope nonetheless.

Worse still, while the recently concluded PSL had a lot going for it, one thing we can say for sure is that there was no hot upstart staking claim to the Russell role. Of the 23 batsmen who scored at least a hundred runs in PSL 6, nine of the top 10 strike rates belonged to foreign players (Asif Ali being the sole exception, at no. 7, but he is not international quality, and we all know it).

Sohaib Maqsood, right outside that list of top 10, was easily the batsman of the tournament, and is therefore an intriguing possibility. Misbah and the selectors clearly agree, and have tapped him for England.

Maqsood’s success for Multan, however, came at three, while in England he will bat at five. As we learned with the Haider Ali experiment, success in the top order in franchise cricket does not necessarily replicate in the middle order on the international stage. The two are entirely different challenges, and that is before we even consider Maqsood’s not-so-subtle public declaration that he sees himself as a top-order player.

Then there is #14 on that list of top strike rates: Shoaib Malik, the man whom cockroaches approach for tips on survivability. Between the World T20 being held on the benign pitches of the UAE, his longstanding ability to ingratiate himself with powers that be, and the frankly stubborn quality of continuing to score runs in franchise cricket around the world, it would take a brave person to rule out a Malik return. But he, too, is almost 40, only reinforcing the central point: for whatever reason, our domestic circuit is not throwing up this very specific brand of player.

At the national level, Pakistan cricket is fortunate to have a lot of its bases covered. In his brief time as chief selector, Mohammad Wasim has done an admirable job of extending Pakistan’s bench strength in some key areas. In white ball cricket, especially, we have a promising pipeline of fast medium bowlers, spinners, and top-order batsmen. But there is a great big, Andre Russell-sized hole in our T20 and ODI squads, and it is unclear whether a team lacking such a player can realistically aspire to the semi-finals or beyond of ICC events.

The writer tweets @ahsanib

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 4th, 2021