Get YOUR Best Out of Pakistan

In the last two years, many batsmen have made their highest scores (in all three formats) against Pakistan. Seeing tail-enders contribute in rebuilding after the opposition is 3 or 4 down early in the innings is now a common sight,  maybe because our bowlers do not plan for the lower order batsmen or relax after their first spells.
Here is a list of batsmen who have made their career best scores in Tests against Pakistan in the last two years.

Tanvir Ahmed

Tanvir Ahmed is an exception when it comes to Pakistani fast bowlers, he's made his debut at nearly 32 years of age when usually Pakistan bring in fast bowlers when they are young. He'll probably have a short career but he looks good enough to play for Pakistan until we get a new Muhammad Aamer. He's already bowled some Waqar-Younis-like deliveries today.

Zulqarnain's Flight

I've got some wild theories about Zulqarnain's flight to England:

1. Akmals threatened him indirectly, so Adnan could be the wicket keeper and Kamran could come in the team as a batsman.

2. Zulqarnain was told that he wouldn't be playing in the fifth ODI so he decided it was best to do something about it instead of accepting like he did in the Test series against England.

3. Zulqarnain thought he had a better chance of playing for England than playing for Pakistan, and at least, he could play for a county there.

4. He knew something about the the Butt, Aamer, Asif issue and was a threat to their case.

5. He's telling the truth but now he's regretting what he's done.

I believe if he doesn't tell the whole story soon, he's never going to tell it. None of the former cricketers believe him except Sarfaraz Nawaz. He's been changing his statements every other day. His family doesn't seem to support him either. To me, it looks like he's foolish but telling the truth.

The Curious Case of Fawad Alam

Every time he walks out to bat, there is an uncomfortable feeling of watching a meaningless innings from an overrated batsman. His career ODI strike rate of 74 runs per hundred balls is too low for an allrounder-turned-specialist batsman coming in the lower order. He can't play the short ball, a deficiency which makes him ineffective on fast bouncy pitches. He doesn't have the power to hit boundaries required at the end of an innings. His technique has been criticized, his stance even more. But his stats say otherwise.

He averages over 42 in ODIs (as of today). Of his 23 innings in ODI cricket till now, he has returned not out 9 times, with a strike rate of 103.54 in those innings. Nearly all his best performances have come when the team needed them most (fifties against Australia, England and South Africa).

In T20s, he averages 18 (SR 117) which is acceptable considering he comes in to bat at no.7 with not many balls left.

In his three Tests (two in Srilanka, one in New Zealand) he averages 41.66. He has yet to prove his test credentials though. His only Test innings of note is the brilliant 168 he scored on debut against Srilanka in Colombo, in 2009. 

His pattern of scoring suggests that he likes to accumulate runs in singles and doubles and then hit out in the latter part of his innings. To be fair to him, for a man criticized for being too slow in his scoring, he hasn't been given adequate chances. In limited overs cricket he comes in to bat at no.6 or 7 when he would have been better suited in the middle order, especially in the absence of some senior batsmen. On many occasions, he has had to rebuild the innings after a batting collapse. In Tests he hasn't been given a proper chance since he failed in the Dunedin Test against New Zealand.