SHARJAH// Having had little to cheer since their arrival in mid-September, West Indies claimed a consolation win in the third Test in Sharjah. Pakistan were already series winners, though. So who gained what from the past seven weeks in the UAE?
THE WINNERS
Pakistan
OK, so they lost the final Test, and showed signs of complacency and fatigue in the process. But still, Pakistan won eight games out of nine on this tour. They are seven series unbeaten in Tests. Maybe the Sharjah defeat will keep them honest ahead of trips to New Zealand and Australia.
“Going into the next two series, we know how tough that is,” Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, said. “But we also know when we play to our full potential we can win anywhere in the world. We have lost some momentum, but we have to regain it, and we have to work very hard for it.”
Kraigg Brathwaite
Brathwaite spent the entire duration of the final Test on the field. He faced 427 balls, scored a combined tally of 202 runs, and was not dismissed once.
“It is something I always wanted to do, even in first-class cricket, and playing for the West Indies,” the opener said. “I’m happy that I’ve done it. Pakistan have good bowlers, so it was tough work and I had to be mentally strong. There were tough periods I had to fight through, and I am really thankful we got through.”
Azhar Ali
Yasir Shah was named man of the series. For taking the key, last-innings wickets in the two matches Pakistan won, the leg-spinner was probably deserving. That said, though, Azhar must have run him close. The series will be chiefly memorable for him becoming the fourth triple centurion from Pakistan, in the Dubai Test.
And neither was he just a flat track bully. It was he who gave Pakistan something to bowl at in Sharjah, when everyone else had downed tools. To think, at the start of this tour, his dismissal was cheered by Pakistan’s fans during a one-day match in Sharjah.
LOSERS
Test cricket in the UAE
All of the three Tests had a result. Each one went to the fifth day, too. Good for Test cricket, right? Not that you would know it. This series was always likely to be a tough sell, but the empty stands felt even more soul-destroying than usual. And Misbah is getting noticeably more vexed.
“Why didn’t the spinners get more overs?” he said after the Sharjah defeat. “Take the answer from the groundsman who made the pitch. If the ball doesn’t turn even on the fifth day then how will you bowl spinners?”
Marlon Samuels
This is a young, inexperienced, and impressionable West Indies side. Their captain, Jason Holder, turns 25 on Saturday. His peers in age-group cricket in Barbados account for almost half the side.
Given all the negativity that so frequently swirls around West Indies cricket, they could do with a senior head leading the way. No one else in their squad has achieved as much in the game as Marlon Samuels. But the man who was player of the match in the World Twenty20 final earlier this year was a passenger rather than pilot on this tour.
Zulfiqar Babar
Misbah suggested this might be the last time he is seen in international cricket in the UAE. Given he will be 43 by the time a series is likely to be played here, it seems unlikely he will be back.
He might not be the only one. Zulfiqar Babar, the left-arm spinner who has played a fine hand in Pakistan’s rise, could be surplus to requirements soon, too. His place as second spinner for the New Zealand tour has gone to Mohammed Nawaz, and Misbah intimated the younger player will get time to prove himself.
