aBU DHABI // Here is something that should boggle the mind, except that it probably will not.
That is because the general outline of this situation is known: Pakistan have used many openers in the last decade, tried them in many more permutations and have not been able to find either a single decent opener, or a pair that works.
But it is worth logging the details.
Since the beginning of 2003, for instance, Pakistan have tried 26 different opening combinations in Test cricket.
Fourteen different men have been entrusted to go out and face the new ball. They have tried specialist openers, they have tried to push middle-order men up there, they have used a wicketkeeper. And there is Imran Farhat.
It has not been barren experimentation. They have 14 century and 29 fifty stands to show for their troubles, which is not great, or even good, but it is something. Some of the pairs, such as Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat back in late 2003, looked like the future.
Others, mostly those involving Shahid Afridi, have looked like timeless bad ideas.
Some pairs were torn apart and reunited several times over several years, like passing lovers in a particularly tragic novel, only to always end apart.
Even as recently as the beginning of this latest age under Misbah-ul-Haq, a solution appeared at hand. It was only 21 months ago, in Dubai against England, that Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez put on Pakistan’s last opening century stand before yesterday, and neither are here now.
Those two first shared the trauma of facing a new ball in August 2003 and have five hundred and seven fifty stands.
But since breaking them up again, they have tried six in seven Tests. The problem is obvious. It is not that Pakistan does not and cannot produce openers, or that one opener is better than another.
On the evidence of this decade, in which the most any pair has opened together is just 39 innings, these assumptions are essentially untested. No pair, no single opener has been given one, uninterrupted run long enough to prove or disprove anything.
It is the kind of obvious point almost not worth stating. So, as refreshing as Tuesday’s 135-run opening stand between Khurram Manzoor and Shan Masood was, pardon the inherent cynicism in wondering whether they will be around next October when Pakistan are likely to take on Australia.
Either of them could get injured and be forgotten. One of them could be dropped for a poor run in another format. New selectors might come in, or a new captain, with his own preferences.
Who knows?
Manzoor, whose first hundred on Tuesday put Pakistan in such a good position, is a fine example of the kind of openers Pakistan have produced, but not positioned with any permanence. Seen as he is, he does not always have the kind of rigorous technique some might want in an opener.
It is not unkind to ask whether he might struggle outside the region, though Pakistan do not actually have any Tests outside the region anytime soon.
But with this apparent breakthrough emerged a better sense of the capabilities of a young opener, of facets that go beyond good footwork or how straight or crooked the bat comes down, or how much his domestic average is. This, as it was for Masood, was about much else.
Clearly, if the world’s best pace attack can be taken on in the kind of intelligent, nerveless fashion Manzoor and Masood employed today, there is very likely something there worth investing in.
As there has been in the past, because as much as coaching or anything else, that investment needs first to be one of faith.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Audio: Shan Masood says Pakistan is now full of belief that his side can turn things around
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
More on animal trafficking
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
