Azhar Ali has shown the right temperament for Test cricket © AFP

The value of the ICC's Test rankings might be debatable but a quick glance makes one immediate impression: the world of Test cricket is two divisions in one. Pakistan are in the second tier, an unhealthy distance adrift of Australia who prop up the top teams. That Pakistan haven't hit the bottom of the pile, however, is a wonder in itself. Even in the severest adversity, mostly self-afflicted, Pakistan have been able to pull off a surprise win or commendable draw.

The South Africa series is a case in point. Despite the loss of leading players, the one-day series was a thriller right up to the moment that Zulqarnain Haider fled to England. The deciding match was a disappointment but Pakistan's nerves were clearly frazzled by the sudden controversy. In that context, and compounded by injuries to Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan looked set for an absolute battering in the Test series.

Typically, expectation and reality were distant cousins. Much to everybody's surprise Pakistan batted with grit, sound technique, and occasional aggression. It was a method that hadn't been exhibited by Pakistan for quite some time. What prompted it is unclear? But a drawn series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi was a minor triumph for Pakistan cricket, although both teams were more defensive in the Test series than they needed to be.

The shining star for Pakistan was Azhar Ali, who added to the concentration and technique that he had demonstrated in England this summer with some positive strokeplay. Whereas Azhar had looked somewhat limited in England, he flourished in the United Arab Emirates. A player of solid temperament and technique has been a rare commodity in Pakistan cricket, and Azhar needs to build on this encouraging start to his Test career.

Further encouragement came in the shape of Asad Shafiq's debut half-century. Asad is composed and well organised at the crease, another throwback to the art of proper batsmanship. While Umar Akmal might be more talented than both Azhar and Asad, Pakistan's wastrel has something to learn from his junior colleagues in the way that they applied themselves. If he can do that, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul Haq--who both confirmed that they still have miles in the tank--will have the opportunity to oversee the development of a new middle-order for Pakistan.

Clearly the batsmen had it easy here but pressure can undo a batsman on the easiest of tracks--and Pakistan's batsmen were invariably under pressure. A sterner test will follow in New Zealand but it is a pleasant surprise to be discussing some postives from Pakistan's batting performances.

But just as we see some green shots among the batsmen, Pakistan's bowling is in dire trouble especially in Test cricket. New Zealand will be a fairer examination of the bowlers too but without Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif Pakistan's bowling carries little guile or penetration.

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Zulqarnain Haider deserves understanding © AFP

A week that promised to deliver the right kind of headlines for Pakistan cricket has once more deepened everybody's sense of bewilderment. Zulqarnain Haider's covert escape from the international squad and his arrival in England has quickly banished the euphoria of two nail-biting victories over South Africa.

What drove Zulqarnain to this extreme measure isn't entirely clear but he is certainly a troubled young man. Threats to Pakistan cricketers are not new, and at the very least Zulqarnain's act will help people outside Pakistan understand some of the pressures that he and his colleagues uniquely face. Pakistan cricketers, like other human beings, aren't born corrupt. They are products, even victims, of their peculiar environment.

Experienced voices in Pakistan are already condemning Zulqarnain's behaviour. He should have turned back to Pakistan and his cricket board in the first instance, they say. Perhaps so. But it is equally understandable that he might feel unable to trust the current malfunctioning cricket board, despite the ICC task force's rather hasty announcement of the PCB's wonderful progress in combating corruption. Naturally, he would feel safer in exposing his concerns in England than in Pakistan, or even Dubai.

Whistleblowers in any walk of life face being discredited. They are marginalised, lose their jobs, and may experience personal danger. They are quickly dismissed as attention seekers and scandalmongers. Zulqarnain might turn out to be either of these but for now he deserves understanding. It takes guts, extreme provocation, or both, to walk out on an international career, something you have worked all your life for and dreamed every night about.

Zulqarnain might not be the most talented player to represent Pakistan but he has shown plenty of guts and determination on the cricket field. He clearly wants to win. He puts his country first, he says. He has dedicated victories to Imran Khan's cancer appeal and Pakistan's flood victims. To me, this is the behaviour of a man whose heart is in the right place, only an extreme cynic would think otherwise.

Where Zulqarnain's mind is, however, is anybody's guess. But now that he has set off on this lonely road he needs to fully expose everything that has gone before, whatever the short-term cost to cricket and cricketers in Pakistan and elsewhere. Once we know the full extent of Zulqarnain’s trauma that will be the time to properly judge the man who wanted to be Pakistan's wicketkeeper.

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On form, no ground can hold Abdul Razzaq's power © AFP

Pakistan fans have been feeling like punching bags, taking one heavy blow after another. A few have even revoked their support of the national team, although true fans wouldn't do that, would they? Admittedly it has been hard mustering enthusiasm for Pakistan's cricket and its cricketers. Shorn of its best bowlers, depleted of batsmen of any substance, and betrayed by butter-fingered fielders, the Pakistan cricket team has cut a pathetic figure across the globe. A previously uplifting pursuit, replaced by the upper-cuts received by a punching bag.

Enter Abdul 'Razzler' Razzaq, a prime specimen in the tragedy of Pakistan cricket, a player of rare ability and a victim of wanton neglect. Razzler's thunderous century against South Africa in Abu Dhabi came at a moment when even the most hardened supporters had begun to despair. Was there anything of merit or joy in the current Pakistan team?

In 2006, I watched a Pakistan practice session in London. Bob Woolmer was beginning to grapple with the technical issues in Kamran Akmal's glovework. Waqar Younis was overseeing the endeavours of the pace bowlers. Eventually Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq emerged, side by side in the practice nets. What followed was not entirely professional although it was great viewing. Afridi annd Razzaq embarked on a spontaneous competition to smite the bowlers as far as possible. My money was on Afridi but the Razzler won by a clear distance. On form, no ground can hold his power and we were reminded yesterday of his rare ability to hit far, hard, and handsome wherever the ball lands.

Go back further to 1999 and Razzaq is Pakistan's No. 3 in the World Cup final at Lord's. He is a mere teenager facing Australia, the strongest team in the world. Pakistan lose, of course, and Razzaq does nothing special but in the tournament he has done enough to suggest an allrounder of genuine substance has been unearthed.

Over a decade later Razzaq's career has really gone nowhere other than some memorable cameos against India and Australia. Some blame rests at Razzaq's door, for a bowling career that waned before it even waxed and no real progression from his block or blast approach. Sanjay Manjrekar revealed on Twitter that Inzamam-ul Haq, Razzaq's frequent captain, described him as only having a first and a fourth gear.

Yet Razzaq is a perfect example of how the Pakistan Cricket Board has failed to develop cricketers for over a decade, and he is one of the most high-profile victims. Players of genuine ability keep emerging but their transition into resolute international cricketers never occurs. That transition has at least two pre-requisites. First, a country's cricket structure from domestic cricket to international cricket must have coaching systems that are capable of overseeing that development. Second, and perhaps most importantly, there has to be some logic and consistency about national selection policy.

It is this second point that Razzaq himself has identified as the curse of his career. "I always play a match as if it is my last," he says. Uncertainty creates insecurity, and a distracted player will struggle to perform optimally at the highest level. The Pakistan Cricket Board needs to take note.

Now Razzaq has shown that he has something special to offer Pakistan cricket as a match-turning batsman in limited overs cricket. How often that happens will have as much to do with his temperament as with the policies of the PCB. As a batsman Razzaq could play another five years, perhaps more? Anybody who watched Razzaq's desert blitz will have been thrilled and bemused in equal measure, bemused at how that natural ability has been squandered.

But most of all, Pakistan fans will be grateful to the Razzler for unexpectedly lifting their spirits and reminding them of why they love their team in the first place. Let's hope Razzler's dazzle also lifts the team to halt a dangerous decline in its cricket. We've all had enough of being punching bags.

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