No post-mortem needed for tame surrender against South Africa

I don't think we need any post-mortems to tell us what went wrong in the Cape Town Test match and indeed in the entire tour of South Africa. It would be better to push the erase-button so that no trace is left of an ill-fated tour where nothing went right, not even the weather and rain never threatened. It all happened in bright sunshine.

The kindest construction that can be put on the tour is that the two teams were unfairly matched, a heavyweight against a lightweight. One team totally committed, the other simply going through the motions like a sparring partner.

Were there any positives? Only Taufiq Omar. He showed strength of character and a high price on his wicket and didn't give it away. He looked mentally tired after he made his hundred but was soon back in the fray as Pakistan followed-on but he battled on.

If I was the team's coach, I would gather the team and get them to see the videos of the Sydney Test match. First I would point to the innings of Steve Waugh, a captain under siege and let them, see what application and defiance means.

Then I would show them the effort of the England team, thrashed and fighting to save the ignominy of a whitewash, the batting, bowling and the fielding of a team for whom pride means much, brilliant cricket that had the mighty Australia on its knees.

Time and again, the commentators kept saying that the Pakistan team lacked motivation. Clearly national pride is not enough. Nor is the handsome money it gets. What else is needed to get motivation? I am stumped for an answer.

The Pakistan team arrived in Cape Town two days before the start of the Test match. Yet, it chose not to have any nets, no doubt exhausted by their exertions in the Durban Test match which it lost by ten wickets with the best part of two days to spare.

The body-language of the team on the first day of the Cape Town Test suggested that the end-of-tour fatigue had arrived early. As if to show that it was determined not to learn from its mistakes, Pakistan went in with four bowlers again.

Once again Shahid Afridi was not in the frame and worse, Abdul Razzaq was supposedly injured and not in the team, the bowling was weakened, so too was the batting, Pakistan should have made a greater effort to try and level the series. It did not do so. It caved in without a semblance of fight, a tame surrender. Pakistan is much better team than the one that played in South Africa.

The pity is that Pakistan had a great chance to get familiar with conditions in South Africa ahead of the World Cup and appears to have squandered the opportunity. We have been promised that the team will be re-group.

What is needed is an agonising reappraisal of our whole approach. What has been missing is the spark of inspiration, the ability to seize the opportunity or play with determination when things have gone badly.

In brief, what has been missing is team work, of playing like an unit. No one doubts the abilities of the players. It is simply that they can't get their act together. There have been injuries but which team in the world has been without injuries? It is not possible to play non-stop cricket and come out unscathed. This goes with the territory.

There isn't much time between now and the start of the World Cup. The team has already been announced. The selectors have done a fine job and chosen the best available team.

Generally, there is a hue and cry when a team is selected. Everyone has his own idea of what the team should be. But there has been no criticism of this World Cup squad. No one has been left out and it is a balance team.

Saeed Anwar returns to the team and one sincerely hopes that he will be able to find his magic touch. He has been out of international cricket for a long time but he has the experience to get into the groove.

Wasim Akram will be a key bowler. He has had the rest that he wanted and should be raring to go. It may well be his last appearance for Pakistan. If it is, he would want to go out on a high, a last hurrah.

Shoaib Akhtar too can play a significant role if he can come to terms with himself. So far, he has played very much by his own rules. I think he needs to knuckle down. He is a great showman and likes the spotlight on himself. No one grudges him that.

But I hope that he will accept the responsibility of being one of Pakistan's strike bowlers. The game of cricket has a long history and so far no player has been able to prove that he is bigger than the game, not even Don Bradman or Gary Sobers.

The World Cup should be seen as a new beginning and the South African tour should be forgotten but the mistakes should be identified and the team should make sure that these mistakes are not repeated. The cricket public has been very patient. It still believes in the Pakistan team has not lost its motivation!