The batsmen touring South Africa have contributed immensely to Pakistan cricket but the time has come to look ahead and plan for the 2015 World Cup

It remains a mystery as to why Pakistan took on South Africa with such an untried Test bowling attack but the one-day series offers a vital opportunity to beginning planning for the future in whites

Nobody except Rambo - and I don't mean Pakistan's and ESPNcricinfo's linguistic champion Ramiz Raja - ever won a war in isolation

For anybody thinking the only way is up for Pakistan in this Test series, think again. Misbah-ul Haq's team was competitive in two innings in Johannesburg, which leaves plenty of room for improvement and an equal amount for deterioration

At the beginning of Misbah's reign, Pakistan drew a series against South Africa. Expectations were low, and the dead wickets of the Emirates helped, but Pakistan seemed ripe for humiliation

A motorised parade of great heroes of India's past, including Wasim Akram, failed to inspire heroes of India's present and future to overcome Pakistan's competitive, albeit faltering, total of 250 runs

It is the season of goodwill. Pakistan's cricketers are in India to restart the healing process for fractured political relationships.

What do you do when the magic dies? When eyes, slower in reaching focus, and hands and body, sluggish in finding shapes and arcs, betray you?

We're a funny bunch. Some of us can't bat; the rest of us can't bowl. We're separated by a line drawn in deserts, fields and mountains; a line that doesn't separate race, caste or religion, which many innocents presume to be its purpose

The heat was high in Colombo but Pakistan froze. In a game in which they had too less to lose, and India started poorly, Pakistan were never relaxed

South Africa succumbed to spin but they also succumbed to two Umars who came of age

If it is a rare pleasure for Pakistan to thank their batsmen for a victory, twice in a row is a luxury. Bowlers win matches for Pakistan, batsmen sometimes save them

The world is not enough for some cricketers who crave the riches of mercenary T20 tournaments. But the World T20 about to unfold in Sri Lanka is the competition to win

Australia won a skirmish in the desert but one player dominated despatches. He was the leading wicket taker in the ODI series, with an average typical of school cricket

South Africa's deserved rise to No.1 in Test cricket offered the world a lingering view of the new Test rankings. The top three were as expected, vanquished England sitting above Australia

Any match is merely a stepping stone on the long and winding road to the summit of international cricket

We have been here before, I hear you say; Shahid Afridi , Pakistan's maverick hero, pondering another retirement , this time from the 50-overs version of international cricket

Mohammad Hafeez, professor of the Pakistan cricket team, has now also become its Twenty20 captain

We await with trepidation any further attempt to resurrect Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan. What do you do with a horse that has been flogged, beaten, and is already dead?

Rumours of the death of Pakistan cricket, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated. If flowers can bloom in the desert, Pakistan cricket can thrive without the security glare of home internationals