After every loss Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq explains that the team made mistakes and in future it would learn from them. However, it has always turned out to be otherwise.

What happened in New Zealand? A team that had lost all three Tests in India and was under pressure defeated Pakistan in both Tests comprehensively.

That the conditions were different is no excuse. Pakistan players are professional and they should have the ability to face all conditions. What happened in the third Test against low-ranked West Indies? In home-like conditions in the third Test Pakistan lost their last five wickets for 33 runs and set a target of only 153.

In the second Test against New Zealand, too, chasing a tough target of 369, Pakistan’s unpredictable top order made middle-order job easier, providing 131 runs opening stand in 60 overs from allotted 98 overs of the day.

At 181-1, Pakistan were in a comfortable position. A hard-fought win or a draw was being expected, but the batting collapsed against the new ball and the team was bowled out for 230.  It was only the third occasion in Pakistan history when Pakistan lost ten wickets for less than 100 after a century-stand by the openers.

It was New Zealand’s first Test series win against Pakistan after 1984-85. Since then the Kiwis had played 12 Test series against Pakistan but failed to win even once.

Before losing the two Tests in New Zealand, Pakistan had lost third Test against West Indies in Sharjah. The last time Pakistan lost three consecutive Tests was in 2013 in South Africa.

Pakistan had lost only three Tests out of 14 since the start of 2015. Before the New Zealand series, Pakistan had not lost a series since they were beaten 2-0 in Sri Lanka in August 2014.

Pakistan became the No. 1 Test team in the ICC Test ranking earlier this year but slipped to No 4 after the defeat against the West Indies in Sharjah and the 2-0 defeat in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor was the highest run-getter in the series with 150 runs, while for Pakistan young Babar Azam scored 142 runs at an average of 47.33. Opener Sami Aslam also proved his skills in difficult conditions, scoring 122 runs.

It was one of the worst series for veteran Younis Khan as he scored just 16 runs in four innings, averaging just 4. He has been going through the longest dry patch of his career with single figure totals in each of his past five innings.

The performance of Asad Shafiq in the series was also disappointing. He managed only 56 runs in four innings. In 2016, he played 18 Test innings in which he scored 528 runs including one hundred, three fifties, but more importantly five ducks. Asad Shafiq is the sixth player to bag five ducks in a year. No Pakistan player in top-six positions has got more than three ducks in a year.

Man-of-the-Series Tim Southee was the most successful bowler of the Test series with 13 wickets in two matches at an average of 16.38. Mohammad Amir and Sohail Khan got seven wickets each, averaging 28.57 and 38.14, respectively. Amir was unlucky not to get more wickets due to dropped catches.

Fast bowler Wahab Riaz, about whom coach Mickey Arthur predicted that he would be number one weapon for Australia series, took only two wickets.

Pakistan are now in Australia where they have never won a Test series in 52 years. In their last three tours to Australia, in 2009, 2004 and 1999, they lost all three Tests.

But skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is confident that conditions in Australia will be easier for Pakistani batsmen than New Zealand and it will be a good opportunity to beat comparatively inexperienced Australian team on its soil.