The Pakistan selectors' view that Younis Khan has to prove himself in a domestic match is laughable © AFP

Pakistan's defeat in Melbourne was fascinating viewing. Test cricket is tough for Pakistan because of how few matches the team has played since 2006. Pakistan's domestic structure is also poor preparation for away tours. Nonetheless, it would be complacent to excuse the defeat on this basis.

The Pakistan team has much to be proud from the performance at the MCG but surely it is capable of more? Here are the lessons I believe Pakistan cricket should learn from the MCG. Feel free to add yours:

1 Australia remain a formidable team. They may not have the batting strength of old but their pace attack is developing powerfully. Since Pakistan will spend much of the next year playing Ricky Ponting's men, they must develop a strategy to combat Australia's pace attack, especially the left armers against whom Pakistan were particularly poor.

2 In turn, Australia are troubled by pace, something Mohammad Aamer and the West Indies demonstrated. Mohammad Asif has sufficient guile to compensate for his lack of raw pace, but Abdur Rauf doesn't. He generally eased the pressure on the Aussie batsmen. Australia's pace attack is relentless, Pakistan's needs to be the same. That must mean a return for Umar Gul or Mohammad Sami. Waqar Younis should be the best to judge which of the two is in the best form.

3 The pace and bounce of Australian wickets is a considerable help to leg break bowlers. Shane Warne's record speaks for itself, but Mushtaq Ahmed has also enjoyed success in Australia. Saeed Ajmal bowled well at the MCG, however, Pakistan's number one spin bowling option has to be Danish Kaneria. Fourth on the all-time list of Pakistani wicket takers, Danish now has to play a decisive role against the better teams.

4 Aamer is a great find for Pakistan. From the moment he set out in international cricket the young man has shown rare skill and temperament. Knowing that he can dismiss Australia's top order should fill him with confidence but there is only so much one man or boy can do. The other bowlers must share his burden.

5 Despite ridiculous claims by one of Pakistan's selectors, the batsmen failed at the MCG. An Australian tour isn't the place for batsmen seeking to establish themselves, unless they happen to be audacious talents like Umar Akmal. Pakistan's batting order requires players with a track record. When we have a batsman with a Test average of over 50, who can fill the crucial No.3 spot, and who scored a Test triple century earlier this year, why would you hesitate to rush him back? The Pakistan selectors' view that Younis Khan has to prove himself in a domestic match is laughable. The team management have called for him. Why then do Pakistan's selectors act against the best interests of the national team?

6 Imran Farhat scored a fortunate century in New Zealand. The unfortunate consequence is that a stroke of luck has kept him in the team. Pakistan require an opening batsman to partner Salman Butt who has greater experience. The current squad lacks options that Younis Khan's return could have created. The genuine alternatives to Farhat are sitting in Pakistan. But Pakistan must act to improve their prospects by calling upon Kamran Akmal or Shoaib Malik to open the innings.

7 Sydney might require two spinners but Pakistan's tail is too long. Shahid Afridi has become an international class bowler, and why can't he apply his more considered approach to batting in the Test arena? He is in Australia. Surely he would answer the call?

8 Days three and four were good for Pakistan, inspired by the spirit of the teenagers. Can their more senior colleagues learn something from Umar and Aamer? Can Pakistan apply that spirit for five days?

9 Mohammad Yousuf's defensive, risk-averse captaincy has been perplexing. Pakistan have traditionally played their best cricket when they have been combative and attacking. That isn't Yousuf's natural style but he needs to adapt his leadership approach for the sake of his team. To beat Australia you need to slug it out toe to toe. For two and a half days at the MCG Pakistan played with an inferiority complex.

10 Australian can be beaten and Pakistan might have the capability to do it. But they currently have too many weak areas to inspire confidence. Equally, there is no shame in losing to Australia and Pakistan's record in the last decade is dismal. However, this is not the great Australian team of the past two decades. That's why even Mohammad Yousuf's undercooked and muddled Pakistan team will remain a threat. They have to come back hard at the SCG, no holds barred.

Follow me on Twitter while Pakistan are in Australia: http://twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

	Pakistan were under the cosh as the likes of Umar Akmal fought to resuscitate a dying innings © Getty Images

Test cricket has once again proved why it mesmerises like no other. As Shane Watson edged towards his maiden Test century and Australia's first of the summer, Pakistan tried to squeeze the life out his innings.

Adopting a bowling line wide of off stump and an 8-1 offside field, Pakistan's bowlers reduced Watson to scrambling the ten runs to his hundred, when it should have been a relentless march to seal a formidable innings. In the land of Bodyline, MoYoline was born, the greatest scheme that Mohammad Yousuf has brought to the Test arena.

Indeed, had Abdur Rauf held on at point, Watson would have fallen for 99, Mohammad Aamer would have had his sixth wicket, and MoYoline would have become unforgettable. Nonetheless, the moment that Watson clinched his century was one of those precious moments that only Test cricket can bring.

It would have been harsh for Watson to fall short again and Rauf's act of generosity was perhaps appropriate. Unfortunately, Pakistan's aspiring stock bowler is unlikely ever to be remembered for his bowling, but that drop will be replayed a million times.

Another classic Test match moment had transformed Pakistan's attitude to this match. Umar Akmal, reeling from a blow to the head from a bouncer that didn't really get up, was attempting to wrestle the advantage from Australia's bowlers. Pakistan were under the cosh as their teenagers fought to resuscitate a dying innings.

Up to then Pakistan fans had little to cheer, but in one over Akmal launched an all-out assualt on Peter Siddle, Australia's most aggressive bowler. Three fours and a six showed Pakistan's players what attitude could do, and Pakistan have never looked back.

The first two days were flat from Pakistan, but since that third morning they have competed strongly with Australia, and ultimately that is all their supporters seek. Two days later, Yousuf's team find themselves back in the match with an outside chance of victory. It is definitely an outside chance, and Australia are capable of finishing the match in the first session of the final day.

Pakistan have shown that with the right attitude they can go to Sydney with a couple of team changes and growing confidence. They must maintain this positive approach on the final day and plan for victory. That is their best hope of escaping defeat. Playing for a draw will only lead to failure. To assist them, the MCG wicket is now doing a fair impression of the Gadaffi Stadium. Pakistan have hope and an outside chance.

Can Pakistan's old hand and young buck combine to produce a famous victory?

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	We need Pakistan's players to learn something from the youngest amongst them, Mohammad Aamer © Getty Images

The build up to this tour of Australia was an exciting one, unexpectedly so after Pakistan's struggles in the past few years. It was the thrill of the new, both sides fielding players with something to prove and unfamiliar with each other. Indeed, this has become one of the fascinations of following Pakistan and is a consequence of the recent dearth of international cricket.

Performances in New Zealand had sporadically promised some special moments in Australia. They might still come but Mohammad Yousuf's team have quickly replaced the thrill of the new with the familiar dull emotions of disappointment.

It's not so much that Pakistan have underperfomed dramatically.The bowlers generally bowled well, even Abdur Rauf, who despite looking anything but a destroyer of Australia, kept a disciplined length and forced Australia to score more slowly than they are used to. The batsmen toiled but unfortunately lost their wickets at important moments.

What's troubling me, however, is Pakistan's approach to this series. The early years of Pakistan's cricket history could be summarised as a worthy effort spoiled by a negative mindset, fragile temperament, and hopeless fielding.

We could be back in the 1960s because that is the nature of our current team: overawed and underwhelming.There are, of course, a couple of notable exceptions, namely Mohammad Aamer and Umar Akmal, the young bucks with free spirits.

It took the players of the 1970s and 1980s, with Imran Khan and Javed Miandad as chief catalysts of change, to create a team of aggression, self-belief and competence in all disciplines but genius in some. This is the tragedy as I see it, and the management and leadership of the current team need to do something about it.

We need Pakistan's players to learn something from the youngest among them. We need them to free their spirits and play with the grit, belief, desire, and passion to win. Some better fielding would help too. We don't need Pakistan to be crushed by fear of failure.

Australia started this Test series nervously. Pakistan have played them back into confident form. This isn't the great Australia of old and Pakistan need to play the reality not the memory, and that approach begins on the training ground and the selection policy. The captain then needs to embody that self-belief on the field.

Up to now, Pakistan are losing this series in their heads, hearts, and butter fingers. Mohammad Yousuf's team need to worry less about the 60,000 Aussies packed into the MCG and think about the millions of their own fans cringing in their homes around the world.

Many a failure has been forgiven for a brave effort. Have a heart boys, and play with yours.

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	What was the thinking behind recalling Mohammad Sami? © Cricinfo Ltd

Pakistan escaped with a drawn Test and drawn series. When rain intervened in Napier, Mohammad Yousuf's side were looking ragged, their captain nervous. The bowling line of attack and the field placings didn't inspire confidence. Yousuf and his team weren't responding well to the pressure of defending a lowish total on a placid wicket. For me, this was the most fascinating and revealing passage of play in a rivetingTest series. Pity then that New Zealand fans stayed away, an extraordinary failure of marketing or sporting culture.

Indeed, the whole contest was tightly fought and utterly enthralling, in large part thanks to the inconsistencies and poor performances exhibited by both teams. But there was also heroism, from Bond, O'Brien, and Vettori for New Zealand. While Pakistan were grateful to their 'A' list: the Akmals, Asif, and Aamer. Danish Kaneria promised better days too, but he had a rather poor final day like all of Pakistan's bowlers.

Importantly, Yousuf displayed a new determination to struggle and grind out an innings when in the past he would have wafted his wicket away. His captaincy and tactics, though, did raise some concerns. Generally, Yousuf was a defensive captain, risk averse, safety first. His bowling changes seemed sensible but the field placings seldom did. In his defence, although it is a lame one, Yousuf is an inexperienced captain and with Pakistan's recent record a drawn series is a small triumph.

Australia, of course, will be a much tougher challenge, despite their own rebuilding process. Nonetheless, Pakistan's ambitions will be built on their bowling attack, which is good enough to surprise Australia. But whichever way you look at it, the batting line-up is threadbare. When your batting mostly relies on a nineteen-year-old in his first Test series, you know you have cracks too deep to paper over.

Pakistan supporters will stay loyal to their team and will continue to enjoy watching their progress but the bafflement with Pakistan's decision-makers grows on a daily basis. What happens in Pakistan cricket happens for reasons unknown, without logic or consistency, and here are three examples:

1 The return of Mohammad Sami. In the wilderness, out of sight out of mind, no recent international preparation to speak of, Pakistan's once-great hope returns for another chance to ride into the Test arena. Why has Sami been recalled? On what basis? What happened to the pace bowlers on the fringe of international selection in recent months? All discarded at a stroke, a selection strategy abandoned. Good luck to Sami but the logic applied for his recall could easily be applied to include Yasir Hameed, for example, to strengthen the batting.

2 The absence of Younis Khan. The story goes that Younis has gone underground. Rather than hiding out in an underground tunnel in Waziristan or on a fishing boat in the Indian Ocean, Younis emerges at a cricket coaching course in Lahore. It's obvious to most sentient beings that Pakistan's batting is too fragile and lacks experience. Why so quickly rule out an experienced and successful Test player, who also happens to be your current national captain? The rush to exclude Younis was indecent and a direct contradiction to what Mr Butt and Younis were both insisting on only days before.

3 The lottery of selection. I saw a television interview with Iqbal Qasim, Pakistan's occasionally successful spin bowler and now chairman of selectors. Qasim was asked why he wasn't attending the Test series as he was supposed to do. His reply was that he was only part-time and that watching a full five days on his own wasn't a good use of his time. The selection system was revamped to attract professionals. It seems to attract people who have better things to do. How hard can it be to find a former senior Pakistan cricketer willing to do everything they can do to get the selection right, including even watching a match?

Why this angst? This is a chance to beat Australia if destiny's kind, yet Pakistan appear reluctant to take it--for reasons unknown.

Follow me on Twitter while Pakistan are Down Under: http://twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

	Mohammad Yousuf has demonstrated that he is willing to apply himself to fight a rearguard, which has been the one chink in his formidable armour © Getty Images

Pakistan batted so differently in the two innings at Napier that it might have been a different team second time around. It was almost a different wicket, without any of the troubling pace and bounce of the first day, a Pakistani wicket in fact. Indeed, the blind panic that inflicted Pakistan's batsmen on the opening day has been banished by a determined effort that helped reconnect them with the disciplines of Test cricket.

Where Imran Farhat and co flashed and thrashed, they now defended and left well alone. If anything, Pakistan have been too cautious in their second innings to put themselves in a strong position to win this match. The new risk reduction method was applied with almost tyrannical zeal by Mohammad Yousuf as he repeatedly gave Umar Akmal "the eyes" whenever the new champion became overambitious.

For a while Umar nodded and played in submission, but a running mix-up soon put paid to that as the old pro and young pup had an impassioned exchange. It is impressive that Umar has such conviction for a teenager, even though his backing up technique is straight from school 3rd XI cricket. After letting off some steam, Umar decided to occasionally free his arms again.

Surprisingly, Yousuf was the next to go when you might have fully expected Umar's frustration to get the better of him. But despite failing to secure a century, Yousuf has demonstrated that he is willing to apply himself to fight a rearguard, which has been the one chink in his formidable armour. The captaincy has strange effects on people, and this outcome has been an important benefit of Yousuf's leadership.

Overall, Pakistan's much criticised batsmen can be pleased with their application in the second innings here. The Test and the series, however, remain in the balance and the next session will be crucial. Pakistan will need a lead approaching 250 to secure a draw, a sublime result after the ridiculous first-innings debacle.

Follow me on Twitter during the first session: http://twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

	Imran Farhat's survival was a miracle, his century unbelievable © AFP

On the face of it Imran Farhat joined a select band of openers who have carried their bat through an innings. On the face of it his lion hearted effort rescued Pakistan from calamity on a track that had pace, some bounce, but little else. It was a good toss to win. On the face of it Farhat has just solved one half of Pakistan's problem at the top of the order.

But numbers and scorecards are misleading. Just as the statistic that Danish Kaneria has risen above Abdul Qadir in Pakistan's order of Test merit says nothing about the relative qualities of the bowlers - Qadir for my money was world class, Kaneria is just worthy of an international cap - so today's scorecard tells us nothing about the true nature of Farhat's innings.

In an innings of panic, Farhat was the most panic stricken. In a desert of technique, Farhat was often the driest, except when leathering his trademark knee-on-the-ground drive to the off-side boundary. One particular stroke - as he charged and thrashed a good length ball to oblivion, in his mind sending it sailing over the long on boundary but in reality skying it over the slips - defined the ineptitude of Pakistan's display, and may become a contender for the stroke most unworthy of a Test opener.

Somehow, Farhat got away with it. His innings was compulsive viewing for its recklessness. But Farhat was not alone. The 'cream' of Pakistani batsmen swished and misjudged their way to disaster. Only Misbah in the top order got a good ball. Yes the track was pacy and had some bounce, but nothing more. In the last three decades of Pakistan cricket, this was one of the most inept morning sessions ever played by the nation's batsmen. That's how bad it was.

After lunch, with his top order colleagues out of their minds and out of luck, Farhat continued his mad thrash. His survival was a miracle. His century unbelievable. It was so unfathomable that Mohammad Yousuf could be right that a higher authority will dictate the result of this match. For a team that deserved to be out for under 75, Pakistan once more confounded all expectations by scaling two hundred.

Amidst all this, Farhat, Pakistan's unlikely hero, stood squat at the crease, a crouching, striking, fluking contradiction. He may have also entered the record books: Was this the luckiest innings in the history of Test cricket?

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	Why wasn't Shahid Afridi made the one-day captain? © AFP

Like Dr Who in a few weeks time, Ricky Ponting's team is regenerating. Unfortunately for Australians the regeneration process to the next all-conquering form is taking longer than the few seconds that the Time Lord requires and much longer than previous cricketing regenerations. You might even begin to regard it as a decline.

Inevitably Australia will bounce back but until that happens there is a window of opportunity to defeat the best cricketing nation of the last two decades. Australia are now third in the Test rankings, a drop that isn’t caused simply by a freak defeat. Moreover, Australia are struggling to despatch an experimental West Indian team. In their pomp the result would have been a 3-0 whitewash.

Have Pakistan wasted an opportunity with the selection of their touring party? Here are ten questions for the PCB. You might want to add some of your own.

1 What’s happened to the PCB’s relationship with Younis Khan? What an outcome that within six months of delivering a World Cup for his country, Younis does not even have a relationship to speak of with his cricket board. “We haven’t heard from him so we aren’t selecting him,” is the hapless verdict of the PCB. These are the symptoms of a shattered relationship, the two parties aren’t even speaking. While the PCB will blame Younis, it’s hard to imagine that the Australian, English, Indian, or South African cricket boards would have allowed such a situation to arise however truculent their captain.

2 What’s happened to Younis Khan? Are we really supposed to believe that the Pakistan captain has gone underground and nobody knows his whereabouts?

3 What is the logic in selecting Mohammad Yousuf as captain of the one-day team? It was an ideal opportunity to further test Shahid Afridi’s leadership skills.

4 Why haven’t Pakistan drafted in a senior batsman to replace Younis Khan? Younis is experienced in Australian conditions and has succeeded there. He has a Test average of over 50, acquired in a decade of international cricket. Without him, Yousuf is Pakistan’s only established top-level batsman. That’s too much pressure on Yousuf, and too much pressure on Umar Akmal in his first year of international cricket.

5 What’s being done about Pakistan’s top order problems? It’s hard to imagine that Khurram Manzoor and Imran Farhat are likely to flourish in Australia. If many thousands of fans can see it why can’t Pakistan’s selectors? These are not fine judgments, are they?

6 Can Yousuf be persuaded to bat number 3? It’s the key batting position. His country needs him. To his credit, he played it well in Wellington. Will he do it in Australia?

7 What is Intikhab Alam’s role? Is the coach doing his job? Is the coach doing anything? Two Pakistan captains, both great players, have said that they liked to have Inti as coach because they could do exactly as they wished in training. In other words, Inti doesn’t do any coaching in the modern sense. He umpires the practice sessions but little more. Is this the way to make Pakistan compete with the best? Pakistan have many young players with limited experience of cricket of any kind. They need guidance. Waqar Younis' appointment is welcome but what is Inti's role?

8 What’s the purpose of Shoaib Malik? He began life as an off-spinner, a Saqlain Mushtaq clone. He was also an incredible fielder. He now bowls little after problems with his action, and his catching was depressing at Wellington. Shoaib made himself into an international batsman but he isn’t a natural batsman and will never be world class. Pakistan cricket has invested a great deal of its ambitions in Shoaib but where is the return on that investment?

9 How long can Pakistan’s excellent bowling be expected to save the team from humiliation? The pressure does eventually tell on all cricketers. And if one of the frontline pace bowlers is injured or loses form are we really expecting Abdur Rauf to step up to the mark?

10 Is this a squad that properly represents the best talents of Pakistan? Some fans will instinctively and patriotically jump to the defence of the cricket board and the current squad. But we should be asking ourselves whether or not this is acceptable management of Pakistan cricket?

Soon Pakistan will enter the fray with a superior bowling attack to the West Indies but worse fielding. Like Pakistan, West Indies depend on a few key batsmen to carry less accomplished Test performers. But Australia’s team looks beatable after many years and this opportunity may not return in a hurry, not even as soon as next summer.

The victory at Wellington was a joy, and won mainly by the bowlers. But the danger was that it would create a façade that all is well with the current selection strategy. That danger has materialised. The facts are that Pakistan bowled excellently in Wellington, as they have done all tour. They fielded abysmally, as they have done all tour. And the batting was mostly poor, as it has been all tour, with the exception of the vigour of the Akmals and some application by Yousuf.

Meanwhile, New Zealand have generally been poor, with the exception of Shane Bond and some heroics from Ian O’Brien. Their batting has been even worse than Pakistan’s. Ian Smith advocated at least 5 changes in the batting line up after the dismal performance of his countrymen in Wellington.

Australia, of course, will never be so generous. They will punish Pakistan for any fielding lapses, and particularly exploit any top order flakiness. They will also target Pakistan’s best bowlers to shatter their confidence. New Zealand, by comparison, is a carefree stroll.

Is the PCB really serious about the development of Pakistan as a major cricketing force?

Follow me on Twitter during the New Zealand series: http://twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

	Mohammad Yousuf: a captain trying to earn respect © Associated Press

Mohammad Yousuf's team is in a dominant position after two further days of gripping Test cricket. It is an advantage that Pakistan could not have contemplated until the bowlers got to work. Daniel Vettori and colleagues are doing a good job in talking up their chances but Pakistan will be mortified if they fail to level the series from here.

It is especially frustrating being a Pakistani supporter at the moment. There are genuine reasons for excitement, almost exclusively resting with Pakistan's diverse and penetrative bowling attack. The other beacon has been the batting of the Akmal brothers, especially Umar who will have an opportunity to put the match beyond New Zealand on the third day.

But some of their fellows and the strategies are causing perplexion and inviting criticism. Yousuf is baffled by criticism as he is making decisions by consensus, including the surprising call to send Umar in at number three when more experienced batsmen were available.

Listening to debate and discussion is an important part of leadership, as is being able to see a solution that might not be your own. But experts reckon that 80% of leadership is decision making, and Yousuf must move from merely reflecting the consensus view to listening to the discussion and making his own decision.

By that route he will adhere to one of the tenets of good captaincy demonstrated by Mike Brearley, and explained in this week's Times by Michael Atherton: "A good captain doesn't demand respect, he earns it."

When Yousuf came out to bat at number three in today's second innings, the heat was one. His country needed experience in the middle. Yousuf made the right decisions. First he appeared and then Misbah. That's how you earn respect and silence your critics. With that attitude Pakistan have a chance of turning this series on its head.

Join me on Twitter for the first session of each day's play: http://twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

	Bring back Misbah © Associated Press

After the setback in Dunedin, Pakistan will regret two decisions. The first was Mohammad Yousuf's defensive option to bowl first, which forced his team to chase a tricky total on an unpredictable final-day wicket. The second was the team selection.

Pakistan's bowlers almost pick themselves but the batsmen are a different matter altogether: nobody seems to know who to pick. You might have expected that Pakistan's salaried selectors had a sufficient level of expertise to be sure of most, if not all, of Pakistan's top six? That isn't the case, and disturbingly the top three positions are in a constant state of indecisive flux.

What to do, especially as Khurram Manzoor and Imran Farhat looked out of their depth and the next match at Wellington could be even more difficult for Pakistan's batsmen? These two unfortunates should make way for Salman Butt, a proven Test opener, and Misbah-ul Haq, a proven rallier of the late order with a career to revive.

It also seems unfair, almost negligent to throw Fawad Alam in at No. 3 when Shoaib Malik and Yousuf are in the ranks. As a senior player, Malik needs to be in the top three. Yousuf is unlikely to shift from his preferred position. Pakistan's paucity of opening options also means that Kamran Akmal might have to be a temporary solution again.

But this top-order nonsense really does have to end. When Younis Khan is back he will take No. 3 but Pakistan's best opening combination is unknown. Pakistan should be looking ahead to the tour of Australia. To enter that tour without at least one settled opener will be suicidal. Again, with the options available Butt has to be that man.

Young, inexperienced, our out-of-form players are usually best inducted one at a time in top-level sport. Pakistan throw in all these varieties in one go and hope for the best, which is exactly what the fans are left to do thanks to their team's inexplicable selection policy.

With Shane Bond out, Pakistan have every chance of winning this second Test but they must back their most proven performers and those with the soundest techniques.

The bowlers and the Akmal brothers deserve better.

Thanks to everybody who tweeted during the final day's play last week. I'll also be intermittently tweeting on the second Test: http://twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

The tweet of last week was by buya_kasha in the middle of Pakistan's final-innings collapse: "We should be playing the whole Akmal family including their maids."

Lose in Wellington and it might be worth a try.