Pakistan's big leap in 24 months

Pakistan's rise to No. 1 on the Test rankings seems improbable considering two years ago - in August 2014 - they had been in sixth place.

It was a time when Misbah-ul-Haq had found himself surrounded. Up on the Galle Fort was a 40-foot tall Mahela Jaywardene, frozen as he was celebrating a hundred. In front of Misbah was Rangana Herath, making him spontaneously combust if he even thought about such feats.

The Pakistan captain ended the tour with a high score of 31 and an average of 16.75. Soon, he lost his biggest match-winner, Saeed Ajmal, because of an illegal bowling action. And Australia, then the world leaders in Tests, were about to visit for a two-match series.

That's when everything started to change. Misbah smashed the then joint-fastest Test century. He wasn't 'Tuk Tuk' anymore. He was tick, tick, boom! Pakistan found a Lionel Messi lookalike, who had magic in his hands instead. They had Younis Khan batting like the crease was his home and bowlers were serving cake. They didn't have a home, but suddenly, it seemed they had everything else.

Pakistan gave up 10 wickets in an innings only once in two Tests. They had at least two centurions in each of the four innings they batted. They averaged over 80 in the series and scored at 3.5 per over. Poor Australia, they tended to inflict such statistics on their oppositions. It hardly ever works out the other way around.

Younis finished his against-the-world set of scoring a ton against every Test nation. Azhar Ali struck twin hundreds in Abu Dhabi. Misbah became the new Viv Richards. Yasir Shah, in his debut series, and Zulfiqar Babar, a 35-year old on his comeback, had the Australian batsmen melting into a puddle.

After 20 years, Pakistan finally won a Test series against Australia, whitewashed them 2-0 for good measure and leapt up from No. 6 to 3 on the rankings.

Bat first, bat big, tag in scoreboard pressure, sit back and enjoy. That has more or less become Pakistan birthright in the United Arab Emirates.

In 21 Tests in the country since March 2009, only four times have they gone without one of their batsmen making a hundred. In the first Test of the New Zealand series in November 2014, Younis and Misbah made unbeaten ones. Ahmed Shehzad contributed 176. While setting up a declaration, Mohammad Hafeez made 101 in 130 balls in the second innings. A target of 480 in the final innings was well beyond the reach of Brendon McCullum's team - "They played the perfect Test," he said.

In the third Test in Sharjah, Pakistan and New Zealand found themselves batting when chances of a fatal injury on a cricket field had never looked more real. Phillip Hughes had been hit by a bouncer in Sydney and died in hospital, and it affected players from both teams deeply. McCullum and Kane Williamson left their emotions in the dressing room, hit centuries and batted Pakistan out of the game.

Pakistan have the "worst fitness levels," railed the PCB chief. Bangladesh beat them 3-0 in the ODIs and 1-0 in the T20Is. The returning Ajmal had lost his sting even if he had straightened his bowling action. The ineffectiveness seeped into Misbah's Test side as well; they were denied by a world record-opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes in Khulna.

Pakistan went into the second Test with frustration mounting back home. There were calls to overhaul the entire team and swap the captain with a rubber duckie. Misbah made only 9 in the first innings, but around him, Azhar hit 226, Younis smashed 148 and Asad Shafiq 107. The team was learning to get by without their captain.

Yasir then bowled a legbreak that made the world turn. Once he got the first breakthrough, Bangladesh were wrapped up in under 50 overs. "It's not a face-saving win," Misbah said later. It was a team playing to its devastating potential.

Herath took 23 wickets at home when Pakistan visited in 2014. He was given only two on the next trip, in 2015, with a bowling average of 109. Pakistan had taken a hammer to Sri Lanka's spearhead, knocked him blunt and then out. He did not play in the last Test of the series. A Test that decided who would win the trophy. A Test in which Pakistan would play so well records leapt out of the book and fell prostrate at their feet.

Misbah and his batsmen put careful thought into each stroke they played; soft hands against spin and clear intent while attacking. Every effort was made to reach the pitch of the ball and upset an out-of-form Herath's lengths. The plan was clear, the execution perfect. Meanwhile, Yasir ended the series with 24 scalps.

And, if that wasn't enough, Pakistan amassed 382 for 3 to pull off their highest successful chase ever with Younis and Shan Masood making light of a final-day pitch and the same scoreboard pressure that they use with such great skill. "It was a dream win," Misbah said after the game. It was a dream win for the fans too, who too often had to watch their team spontaneously collapse at the mere mention of the word chase.

The first Test in Abu Dhabi followed the other trend common in Test matches in the UAE - both teams put up gigantic first-innings scores but just as the probability of a draw rises and interest in the match drops, the narrative changes on its head. Pakistan were bowled out for 173 in their second innings, debutant Adil Rashid buried memories of 0 for 163 with 5 for 64 and handed England a target of 99 in fading light. The hosts just about held on.

But Alastair Cook, having played England's longest-ever innings in Test cricket, of 836 minutes, had to contend with losing the series as his men failed to show the same kind of fight in Sharjah. Hafeez struck 151 to wrench back the lead England took and the spinners ripped the heart out of the English middle order. A come-from-behind win added to their rise as a force in Test cricket.

Four Tests in England, where Pakistan's spinners were not supposed to be effective, and the conditions and bowlers would test their batsmen who had dined out on placid pitches.

Instead, Yasir picked up 10 wickets at Lord's. Misbah's first innings on English soil amounted to 114 and 10 push-ups. Everyone was taken aback by Shafiq's defensive technique and they were amused by Younis' trampoline footwork until he smacked a double-hundred at The Oval to help Pakistan level the series.

Misbah walked away with his first Man-of-the-Series award. Only a year prior, he had to be convinced not to retire. But in the heart of London he said he wanted to go on.

Pakistan face West Indies in the UAE next and travel to New Zealand in November and Australia soonafter for a couple of tough tours. So there may not be much time to rest on their laurels. Not least because of the questions over where the team would go if Misbah and Younis exit stage left.