PAK vs ENG 3rd Test – Aaqib Javed and the spark that ignited Pakistan’s recent revolution

He glanced across at the two lines on the other side. It would host the second Test. Under the hot sun of Multan, which did not allow all the deer, the surface had a veneer that made it look like a sheet of glass; Dar could comb his beard in demonstration. He looked back at the used pitch, dry as a box waiting for a spark. The seed of an idea was beginning to form in his mind.

Fans of the big industry were brought in at the weekend to dry their faces in an attempt to attract an early round. The only problem? Pakistan’s only spinner was still in hospital with suspected dengue fever, so the selectors quickly used their power to sweep well.

On the sidelines, some of the selectors wondered if the three spinners were too strong, but Aaqib was firm; this was the way forward. Aaqib has become the public face of this electoral coup in a surprisingly short period of time, seen as the man who is successfully running Pakistan cricket at the moment. To show that high status, he resigned from his position as director and head coach of Lahore Qalandars, a position he has held for eight years. On the second day in Pindi, Mohammad Rizwan, once a wise judge of where the strength lies in Pakistan cricket, chirped into the microphone as one bowled Harry Brook, “This is Aaqib-ball now, we’re Aqib-ball.”

***

Being in the wilderness comes naturally to Sajid. He says that he used to enter the last one, the first one in his career since his younger days. If he failed to achieve his goals when Pakistan broke their long-term plan and publicly announced their coaches that they would create specific conditions for him, there would be no turning back.

He found a hard spot on what was now the seventh day field, and threw it into the ruined dirt. Joe Root did not appreciate the changed length and went for a sweep. It is a shot that the batsmen have gradually phased out in the last two Tests, and this was the first time its danger was apparent. Root was pulled, Sajid and Noman tore through the middle order, and the series turned on a dime.

“Pakistan have done a mysterious dance, insisting that it’s a team game in a series that’s about individuals. Masood and Gillespie, whose wings have been clipped. Aaqib, who has become a director of cricket, a selector and a coach without a name. Sajid and Noman, of course, but also Shakeel and Salman.”

Before the two could even finish cleaning England in the second innings, Aaqib and Dar were running at high speed on the M-2, making a beeline for Rawalpindi. Until last week, making a spinning track in Pindi was considered impossible; you might as well plant palm trees in the Arctic Circle.

It’s not yet wedding season in Islamabad, so the PCB managed to pick up a few of those big hitters, and put them around the stadium for five days out of the toss. Large industrial fans and windbreakers are fenced up, and garden rakes work hard along the footpaths. People thought that forks would be out at this stage of the series, but that may not be what they were saying. The next day, Dar and Aaqib were among a large group of people working in the field; if there were signs asking people not to step on it, they certainly weren’t visible in the media center.

Pakistan has performed a strange interpretive dance, emphasizing that it is a team game in a series that is about individuals. People, like Masood and Gillespie, whose wings have been clipped, and those, like Aaqib, who has become a cricket director, selector and coach in all but name. Sajid and Noman, of course, but also Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha, who can withstand these spinning conditions with the patience that comes with familiarity.

Rizwan, perhaps the best wicketkeeper in the international game, has never missed a beat in these testing situations. Jamie Smith’s wickets were fully tested, and missed opportunities – most notably bringing down Salman’s bat early in his second innings against Multan – began to mount. Individual smart players have certain skills in certain situations, the rest of the team sacrifices to maximize those advantages.

Other batsmen, as Masood said, faced the same problems as England. England’s top four have comfortably outplayed Pakistan in the last two Tests, some 118 runs between them this time. But contributions in midfield were rare, and there was an inability to shoot Pakistan’s lower order cheaply; four out of seven partnerships in Pakistan’s biggest this series came in the bottom four. Domestic cricket in Pakistan is boring, and this Pakistan home team did just that.

***

This was a series played with scary spirits. England have yet to look for a spinner, and Sajid’s boisterous send-off has been dismissed as a harmless pantomime. Nobody said it again, but Pakistan had not forgotten what Duckett had said during the second Test with Pakistan in a good position.

He was right, of course. Pakistan have lost each of the last six Tests by a margin in their second innings, often conceding the best position. However, the sun is about to set in Pindi, the tables have changed, England had to come out in the third innings to discuss the deficit.

Pakistan may have produced an overnight formula to come back in the series, but it was too late for England’s batsmen to find one against Sajid and Noman. They had bowled all but 12 overs from England’s second innings in the second Multan Test, and the rust had been knocked out. Before light intervened, Duckett, Crawley and Ollie Pope closed their streak.

This is, indeed, as Rizwan heard, an Aaqib-ball. Meet Pakistan’s new revolution, but keep that matchbox to yourself.