And Pakistan managed to break into the top eight One-day International teams by defeating the West Indies 3-0 in the UAE. This may have sounded stupid to many had it been said a few years back when the West Indies were a terror to play against and Pakistan’s side was amongst the top four, not in the last four. But thankfully, the Men In Green managed to break into the top eight and one hopes that they continue to move up, instead of down because one wrong step would mean that Pakistan will have to play the qualifying rounds for the next World Cup to be held in England.

So how did Pakistan manage to achieve the impossible, considering they had lost 4-1 to England just last month and were unable to get past 300 despite good batting conditions? Head coach Mickey Arthur is the one responsible for this change because he trusted Azhar Ali as a captain; he used Sarfraz Ahmed intelligently in the batting order; and kept the likes of Umar Akmal out. Coach Arthur understood what was right for the team, something his predecessor Waqar Younis was unable to grasp since he continued to use Umar Akmal as wicket-keeper/batsman when it was evident that he was bad at both.

The continuous ouster of never-retiring Shahid Afridi has also had a good impact on the side; now the team has two left-arm spinners in Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz who can take wickets and score runs, something Shahid Afridi wasn’t good at, at the end of his career. Had he been at the helm at the moment, he would have kept the competition out just as he did with so many cricketers of his era and Pakistan would have been even below number nine in ODI rankings.

Talking of incompetence, once upon a time there was a Mohammad Hafeez who could bat, bowl and field. Ever since his bowling action was declared illegal, he started dropping catches (mostly on the bowling off Mohammad Amir) and failed to prove his worth in the ODI XI. Thanks to Azhar Ali who made the opening slot his own with his impressive century in the final one dayer, and Babar Azam who scored as many as three centuries in as many innings, there is no place for Mohammad Hafeez in the Pakistan side now. With better batsmen Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal waiting for a chance as benchwarmers and the in-form Khalid Latif from the T20 side hoping to get a chance in ODIs, it seems unlikely that Mohammad Hafeez might make a comeback anytime soon.

So what should Pakistan do in ODIs if they want to take the highway to better position? Keep using youngsters in the side rather than the oldies that means giving chance to Asad Shafiq rather than Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal rather than Mohammad Hafeez and changing the batting order once in a while. One can use Mohammad Rizwan better if he is sent up the order; the same can be said of Mohammad Nawaz and Imad Wasim who are being wasted in the lower order, considering they can do a better job if used in place of those who have been given chances, and have failed more than passed. That’s something that will help the Green Shirts do well Down Under (New Zealand and Australia) so that they can improve their rankings and avoid the embarrassment of having to qualify for a tournament they have won, once.