The transformation of Shoaib and Yousuf

'Funnily enough, more than the unceasing threat of his bowling (95 overs of it so far), it has been the emphatic cussedness of Shoaib Akhtar's batting that has provided answers' © AFP

If all goes well - and it is as big an `if' as can be imagined in cricket - this series may well be remembered for the reforming of two of Pakistan's most fascinating modern day cricketing philanderers. By no means can it be immediately assumed that the transformation of Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar is permanent - only history will decide that. But, as a backdrop to the result of this series, it is the most gripping theme.

The doubts that hovered around Shoaib and Yousuf before this series were different not only in nature but in intensity. Intrinsic and vociferous questions were asked of the former. In no order, they concerned his fitness, his effectiveness, his ardor and his discipline. In short, could he be trusted to play for Pakistan? Funnily enough, more than the unceasing threat of his bowling (95 overs of it so far), it has been the emphatic cussedness of his batting that has provided answers.

Jog back to April 2004 and recall his 14-ball 28 at Rawalpindi. Possibly, it was the most controversial innings of its duration in Pakistan's history; for its gall (given that he was injured); for what it instigated (the medical commission); for what it was perceived to have said about Shoaib's attitude to the team management. Plainly, many thought it was a slap in the face of Pakistan cricket. Now contrast that statement with what his batting throughout this series has said.

As a tailender, he has changed beyond recognition, playing strictly to a collective need or, if there is a senior batsman at the other end, then to their requirements. Crazy cross-bat slogs have been forsaken, coming out only as shock reminders that he can slog with the best of them, otherwise everything has been forsaken at the alter of the dead bat. Progressively, apart from the first innings at Faisalabad, each innings has taken up more time: 45 minutes for 10 runs and 58 minutes for 11 runs at Multan; 34 minutes for 12 runs and 65 minutes for 14 runs at Faisalabad. His maturity was rewarded here with the role last night of nightwatchman, a decision indicative of new found trust between him and the team and he didn't let them down. He hung around for 95 minutes - as a bonus, compiling his highest Test score.

Yousuf, who accompanied him at the other end, is a more complex study. Questions asked of him were less intense - less certain even. For a start, not many people before this series had many qualms with his career record. Those who held reservations mostly doubted his ability to lead Pakistan as a batsman; to victory, out of a crisis, to anything consequential or substantial. His Multan dismissals only added bulk to arguments that he betrayed the responsibility that should be his as a senior batsman.

The first innings in Faisalabad began to deconstruct those arguments. His 84 runs yesterday, with embellished symbolism from Inzamam's abrupt departure, tentatively pushed further his case for reform. But throughout today, when he added only 99 runs to his tally but fundamentally sealed the series for Pakistan, he offered yet more evidence of change. In most of his work, he displayed a knowledge that, without Inzamam, he was the man to do what was necessary.

Until lunch, the only boundary to come from his bat was the six to bring up his 15th century. In all, he hit seven boundaries to add to the fourteen he had caressed yesterday. Six overs after lunch, with the new ball, Andrew Flintoff, Liam Plunkett and then Steve Harmison began a thirteen-over barrage of bouncers. Yousuf resisted uneasily; once ducking and poking a periscope bat to meet the ball; once being hit on the helmet; once pulling uncertainly with head and eyes averted to a vacant square leg; once anticipating, pivoting and pulling in front of square for four and once arching up on toes like the bow of an arrow, guiding through the slips cordon for four. Mostly, though, he swayed, ducked and resisted. As the day grew older, he refused to entertain risk in his run-getting, instead fiddling with the angles of his strokeplay and emboldening his running between wickets.

With Kamran Akmal, himself undergoing a rise after a mini-series fall, settled, Yousuf took a leisurely yet authoritative back seat, leading Pakistan to a position from which only a miracle can now pull them back. In Inzamam's absence, here was a knock which would not have been out of place had it come from Inzamam's bat himself for it not only gave Pakistan what it required, it led them to the substance of a probable series win. If and when the result comes, then the rehabilitation - whether fleeting or permanent - of Yousuf and Shoaib would have been its most fascinating aspect.