But, it was among the worst chasing efforts ever in the history of Test cricket, that too against the weakest Aussie side of the last two decades. What should have been golden chance for Pakistan turned out to be yet another missed opportunity. The loss has not only hurt Pakistani fans, but cricket lovers the world over, since all expected a tough contest between the two teams.

While the Sydney hurt will stay with the Pakistanis for some time to come, they have to try and look forward to putting up an improved showing at Hobart. The series may be lost, but they have a lot to play for. Avoiding a clean sweep – they have been blanked on the last three occasions – will be an achievement in itself.

Keeping that in view, expect a few changes. For one, Sarfraz Ahmed, who has been sent a SOS, will definitely replace Kamran Akmal, who might not be seen in whites for a long time following his schoolboyish effort at Sydney. Non-performers like Faisal Iqbal and Misbah-ul-Haq too need to go.

Even as the changes are mandatory, the team and the management need to do more than just shuffle around their players. Sadly for Pakistan, they do not get to play Test cricket at home these days due to the constant terror threat in their country. But, that is something beyond their control and they need to try and focus on the job at hand, which they clearly haven’t been doing on current evidence.

First and foremost, their new skipper Mohammad Yousuf needs to get his act right. He has been doing reasonably well with the bat, but his captaincy has been far from inspirational. The manner in which he allowed Australia to get away on the final day at Sydney was baffling. Agreed, he is still learning the tricks of leading the side.

However, he has enough experience to at least decipher how to react to a situation. Instead, Yousuf was prepared to sit back and watch. Pakistan would do well to resolve their inner conflicts and get back their first choice skipper Younis Khan as soon as possible.

That said, one can’t entirely blame the loss on Yousuf’s negative captaincy. As he rightly pointed out, both prior to and after the disaster at Sydney, the younger generation seems keen only on T20. And as if to add credence to their skipper’s comments, the team went out and batted like they were playing a 20-over game.

They way they crumbed made one wonder whether these players can survive even 20 overs in the shorter format. Clearly, this is a dangerous sign for Pakistan cricket and unless they are willing to learn from their mistakes, there is a bumpy ride ahead for Pakistan cricket.

It all began with a superlative 123-run partnership between overnight batsman Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle for the ninth wicket. In the process, Hussey went on to complete his 11th Test century and unarguably one of his most precious ones. The Hussey-Siddle association ensured Pakistan were set a decent total of 176 to chase. But, what the partnership also did was give confidence to the Aussie bowlers to go all out and attack, with nothing to lose. And they did not falter as Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz combined to rout Pakistan and hand them an embarrassing defeat, one that will rankle them for a long time.

Hauritz, who picked up his second five-for in consecutive games, firmly set Australia on course for victory sending back opposition skipper Mohammad Yousuf caught and bowled. Yousuf hit one hard down the ground, but Hauritz managed to get his hands under it in time.

And although, he hurt his fingers in the process, the pain disappeared soon. It helped that he kept picking up wickets to decimate Pakistan. Misbah-ul-qHa lasted all of two balls against him. The tail had little to offer as Hauritz cleaned them up one after the other in a hurry.

The impressive spinner got excellent support from Mitchell Johnson, who began the demolition job for Australia.

The left-arm seamer sent back Salman Butt and Faisal Iqbal in the very same over cheaply and boosted Australia’s confidence immensely. Further, Doug Bollinger also played his part and chipped in with two wickets at crucial junctures. He was responsible for getting rid of Imran Farhat at the top. But, it was undoubtedly the wicket of the belligerent Umar Akmal (49), who threatened to take the game away from Aussies, that allowed the home side to breathe freely.

The bowlers pulled off a miracle no doubt. However, none of that could have been possible without the efforts of Hussey earlier in the day. One has to say he was assisted in a big way by Yousuf, whose captaincy will definitely come under the scanner. Yousuf allowed Hussey to bat with complete freedom, not inserting any pressure on him. Hussey was more than happy to refuse the singles on offer and instead preferred to find the gaps in field, which he did with great precision. Hussey and Siddle kept on piling the agony and Pakistan in were in for a tough battle, which they clearly weren’t prepared for.

When stumps were drawn on day three, the home side were struggling at 286 for the loss of 8 wickets, a lead of a mere 80 runs. Michael Hussey was holding fort for the Australians on 73, but it is a clear case of the Aussies requiring a miracle to escape defeat from such a precarious position.

It was not all that bad at the start for the home side. After wrapping up the Pakistani innings for 333, openers Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes were involved in an impressive century opening stand. But what followed was nothing short of catastrophic. Kaneria was responsible for separating the Australian openers after 105 runs were added.

He sent back Hughes by taking a neat return catch. Further, he added Marcus North to his kitty with one that turned the other way and had North looking south. Kaneria’s next victim, Mitchell Johnson, too had little clue about Kaneria’s wrong ‘un. The left-handed all-rounder was beaten all ends up and clean bowled. Finally, the leggie trapped the dangerous Brad Haddin plumb in front of the wickets, a decision even the referral by the batsman could not change.

While Kaneria’s spell capped a perfect day for the visitors, one cannot forget the contribution of pacer Umar Gul, who was no less effective. Gul has always had the knack of picking up major wickets even whilst conceding runs and he proved his mettle on a day when Pakistan needed him to fire. He dismissed Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting cheaply, having him edge one to slip.

More importantly, he cut short Watson’s fighting effort three short of a hundred. Watson, who was aiming for back to back hundreds, fell going for a cut just too close to his body and was out in the 90s for the third time in four games. Pakistan weren’t complaining though as Watson’s dismissal put them right on top. Gul carried on the good work, adding the scalp of Nathan Hauritz as Pakistan looked set to upset the Australian applecart.

Amazingly, Pakistan find themselves in a winning situation despite some horrendous work in the field. The game could well have been over on the third day had the visiting side fielded sanely. Watson was dropped by Kaneria near the fine-leg boundary. Further, he was all but run out as play approached lunch. For some reason, Kamran Akmal refused to remove the bails when the batsman was not in his crease. Akmal’s poor day turned worse as he put down Michael Hussey three times, and that too off Kaneria’s bowling.

It seems that the New Year has definitely turned around Pakistan’s fortunes. All they must do now is finish off the Aussie innings early on the fourth day and march their way towards victory.

It was hardly surprising then that the Asian side looked completely disillusioned in the match. While, it is true that the Pakistanis are fielding a rather inexperienced outfit, it is also a fact that this is not the greatest Australian side and hence Pakistan has a great chance of upsetting the Ausssie applecart.

Sadly, they blew away the opportunity rather deplorably at Melbourne and Australia had plenty to capitalize on.

There were a number of star performances from players of the home team, but none better than Shane Watson. The all-rounder, who finally found his feet in international cricket last year, was sensational with the bat in both the innings.

He was unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved ton in the first innings, getting run out in the 90s. But he did not repeat his mistake in the second essay and was the one who set up the victory path for Australia with his maiden Test century.

The beauty of Australia’s batting was that everyone contributed in the first innings to help their side put up a huge total.

Like Watson, his opening partner Simon Katich also fell in the 90s. However, the dismissals of the openers did not dispirit the middle-order.

They were only encouraged to carry on the good work. And they did exactly that with their skipper Ricky Ponting contributing an impressive half-century and Michael Hussey scoring 82.

To add insult to injury, Nathan Hauritz came in and registered a handy 75 to put Australia in a commanding position.

If the batters did their job, the bowlers weren’t far behind. Left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson dealt the Pakistanis with some major blows at the top and in the middle, while the ever-improving Doug Bollinger took care of the lower-middle order as Pakistan collapsed in the first innings.

While Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz were not equally successful, they did a great job to back up the efforts of Johnson and Bollinger.

The bowlers continued their exceptional work in the second essay as well with Hauritz being particularly impressive, scalping his maiden five-for and ensuring that Pakistan’s late fightback was nullified.

On the contrary, Pakistan need to do some genuine soul-searching going into the Sydney Test. And for this their seniors need to put their hands up and show some fight.

The most disappointing aspect of Pakistan’s batting was that no one went on get a hundred in either of the innings. Misbah-Ul-Haq registered the highest score of the match for Pakistan – 65 not out.

He was unfortunate to be left stranded at the end of the first innings, with not much support from the lower order. Salman Butt and Imran Farhat have been around the international arena for a while now, bur have yet not learnt the art of constructing an innings, not a healthy sign for the future.

A lot was expected of Mohammad Yousuf. And while he did contribute in both the innings, it wasn’t big enough. For a change Umar Akmal could not capitalize on his start.

But the team did not worry about him as he has proved his mettle in his short yet feisty international stint. Ironically, it is up to the more experienced guys to follow the rookie’s act.