Pakistan and their Amazing Failure at Home: Three Things We Learn

Pakistan's return to hosting bilateral series on their home soil so far has been an underwhelming one.

Since international cricket has returned to their country, the Pakistan side have fragile and error-prone, which has reflected directly in their results.

The off-field issues have taken a toll on their onfield shortcomings. Here are the detailed story of their paltry home form-

1. Pakistan's Poor Test Form:

Pakistan have seen the likes of Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England coming to play five-day cricket in their country in the recent past.

And the home side has struggled to show their supremacy, like the old days. They have only won the series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, while failing to do so against the other teams. Australia won their first Test series in Pakistan after 24 years after winning the Benaud-Qadir Trophy 1-0.

New Zealand almost pulled off a series win in the final test recently, as the bad light saved the hosts to escape unscathed. The worst of the lot came against England a month ago, as Ben Stokes and company thrashed Babar's men 3-0 in the three-match Test series.

Pakistan's bruised exoskeleton took a further hit as they were dismantled by a quality England side, who won their first-ever Test series in Pakistan. It is a perfect reflection of how Pakistan have failed to make considerable steps forward in Test cricket since the departure of their stalwarts.

2. The Game of Thrones of PCB

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are always on the move. It is like a musical chair competition, where multiple people fight for a single chair, and the fight gets ugly every time. And to make it further clear, every time someone sits on the chair, they end up leaving the same chair later in an unceremonious way. The tumultuous political wave of Pakistan may have taken a huge toll on their cricketing aspects, which has in turn sacrificed their cricketing efficacies.

Cricketers turning on selectors, ugly spats between board president and players - these are just a norm in Pakistan and the lack of moral etiquette from top to bottom has been exposed even more since cricket returned to their own soil after the huge gap.

3. Lack of Proper Execution:

In Pakistan, there is no shortage of talent. From the coastal allies of Karachi to the hilly Peshawar, talent is plenty. But the lack of opportunities have been a huge issue. There are man players who haven't got enough opportunities in the international circuit, while underperforming players are sitting with a cushion of comfort on their heads. Things have changed a bit in the past few months, since Sarfaraz Ahmed was finally included in the Pakistan setup against New Zealand. And what happened next? Sarfaraz scored 3 fifties and a hundred in four innings, becoming the player of the series in that assignment. Pakistan haven't done the basics right for a long time. From the selection of the team to former president Ramiz Raja's ludicrous decisions, they needed a proper execution of their resources. The return of Najam Sethi doesn't ensure by any means that good times will return, but Pakistan will live with hope. Shahid Afridi was recruited as the interim chief selector and it has to be seen how he tackles the in-vitro issues.

Pakistan will be aiming to become formidable like the previous days. But that will require a lot of effort. They need a complete transformation of their mindset and approach which can aid in their quest to become one of the big boys again. The recent T20 World Cup performance was an inspiring one, but only inspire and hope can't make them elite, as they need proper management and hierarchy that can streamline a smooth journey to the next level.