Asim shows Pakistan's heart

If there is such a thing as a script in Pakistani cricket these days, then today they followed it to the letter. What was exposed in Australia - particularly during the VB Series - was that Pakistan's batting, when it has not fallen foul of the team management's inconsistencies, can be victims of their own inconsistent techniques. Today, they were victims of both.

When Taufeeq Umar and Salman Butt walked out to open the innings today, they were Pakistan's fourth opening pair in their last five Tests. One can only wonder what Yasir Hameed has done wrong - he scored two fifties in his last Test as an opener, at Sydney last winter. Umar, by contrast, hadn't played a Test for nearly a year, and his only international innings since then was a painful 12 in the second VB Series final.

And what is more, Umar himself was hard done by when the selectors dropped him last year. Should we not expect, therefore, that an assortment of batsmen utterly unsure of their places and position will play with the type of hesitancy and uncertainty we witnessed from Salman and Umar today? Furthermore, what is the true value of the 44 runs Umar eventually eked out? It was the third-highest score today, but the manner of its accumulation and its ill-timed ending will inspire little confidence.

At least Umar can be forgiven for his rustiness. There should be no exoneration, however, for those repeat offenders, Yousuf Youhana and Abdul Razzaq. Youhana, arguably the most expansive strokeplayer in the team, produced the one tentative shot he has made his own: the neither-here-nor-there poke outside off stump. Razzaq, battling to banish the memories of his Melbourne go-slow, came out guns blazing before once again, in the last over before tea, displaying the thoughtless streak that has blighted his career.

But the Australia tour also revealed, albeit belatedly, Pakistan's heart. At 156 for 5 today, after Inzamam's dismissal, they were in significant strife, and yet they managed to double that score, thanks almost entirely to Asim Kamal. Until this innings, the uncertainty surrounding his position in the team threatened to rank among the great mysteries in Pakistan cricket - and there have been a few of those.

Despite scoring three fifties in his first five Tests, he was dropped after failing against Sri Lanka in the Faisalabad Test last year. Then, he had batted with some reluctance at one-down - as he reiterated today, "I bat in the middle order for my domestic team." When he came back against Australia, in his more accustomed position, he made an accomplished 87.

Much of Asim's strength, as he showed today and as has been the hallmark of his brief career, lies in a thoroughly uncomplicated technique. There is no exaggerated or unnecessary movement, and little superfluous flourish is added onto his strokes, as he showed when striking a checked straight-drive off Balaji soon after tea. His attitude is similarly straightforward. He said of his performance: "It is a sporting wicket. If you don't stay at the wicket, you will not perform."

But when he sees fit, Asim flaunts a flowing cover-drive; he greeted the start of Zaheer Khan's third spell late in the afternoon with a drive through wide mid-off, and held the pose to boot. He was adaptable, too, using the crease and his feet well in conjunction with soft hands to ward off Anil Kumble.

Above all, it is the intelligence and batting savvy with which he goes about his work that impresses. Most of his fifties have come while batting with the lower order, and it is indicative of a cool, unruffled temperament. He didn't farm the strike excessively today, but instead made the most of the scoring opportunities that came his way. Singles were accepted without fuss, as were invitations to attack.

In this, there is a glimpse of Javed Miandad's coolness under pressure. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that both are from Karachi, a city that has a certain way of making you cope. That other eminent Karachiite, Rashid Latif, has played a significant and widely acknowledged role in his development; Asim was a graduate of his academy in early 2000.

He seems more diplomatic than either, though. When questioned again about his place in the team, he replied disarmingly: "It's wrong to say that they haven't played me properly. There are better players than me in the team." On the basis of today, that is possibly his first unintelligent statement.