CRICKET: THE RETURN OF THE PROTEAS.

There is a certain degree of mistrust engulfing Pakistan cricket, and its lack of recent success has further added fuel to the fire. Try and draw a sketch of the individuals battling to stay afloat within the national team set-up - it won't be pretty. And with South Africa here for their first tour of the country after a long wait of over 13 years, the final picture could be one of the ugliest that you have ever set your eyes on.

Both Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis were granted stay of execution by the barest of margins when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s Cricket Committee met for the first time under its new chairman Saleem Yousuf, that daring wicket-keeper/batsman of the Imran Khan playing era. It would obviously have been absurd if both the head coach and bowling coach had been shown the door barely three days before the South Africans were boarding the flight from Johannesburg to Karachi.

Affectionately known as 'Tiger', Saleem acknowledged the coronavirus pandemic had had a demoralising effect on the team's performance during the recent tour to New Zealand. Pakistan were no match for the well-oiled home side marshalled by Kane Williamson, who rocketed to the summit of the ICC Test batsmen chart after plundering almost close to 400 runs in the two-match series.

The only semblance of fight felt like a cursory glance when Fawad Alam put an end to the debate surrounding his Test future. With his career on the line, the 35-year-old southpaw stroked one of the most defining centuries in international cricket since the turn of the new millennium. Thanks to the tenacity of Fawad, Pakistan were not disgraced by the 101-run defeat in the first Test at Mount Maunganui. But Christchurch's thrashing by an innings and 176 runs shattered them completely.

Just after being retained for the two Tests and three Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa, Misbah had sounded remorseful as well as complaining. 'I don't mind if there is scrutiny. But obviously there shouldn't be [any] communication gap. We need confidence and continuity with clarity ... improvement takes time and you can't be overly reactive with it. We have young players and haven't got experience in the side, which is why it is taking time to get favourable results.'

Given his docile personality in general, Misbah has often been considered too soft for the demanding role of head coach, while his dual positions - he was also the chief selector simultaneously - was an experiment that...

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