Pakistans 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.Thats when everything started to change. Misbah smashed the then joint-fastest Test century. He wasnt 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 didnt have a home, but suddenly, it seemed they had everything else.Humbling AustraliaPakistan 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.Continuing dominance in the UAEBat 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 McCullums 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.Redemption in BangladeshPakistan 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 Misbahs 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. Its not a face-saving win, Misbah said later. It was a team playing to its devastating potential. Taming Sri LankaHerath 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 Lankas 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 Heraths lengths. The plan was clear, the execution perfect. Meanwhile, Yasir ended the series with 24 scalps.And, if that wasnt 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.Troubling England at homeThe 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 Englands 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.Troubling England awayFour Tests in England, where Pakistans 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 Lords. Misbahs first innings on English soil amounted to 114 and 10 push-ups. Everyone was taken aback by Shafiqs 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. CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals defense is on notice, and they know it.Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said Tuesdays practice was one of the best of the year. While part of that might be attributed to a refreshed team coming off a bye, the larger part is likely due to the changes Guenther has vowed to make after a 3-4-1 start.Players who arent performing, even core veteran players, either figure to lose significant playing time or will ride the bench for a while as the Bengals try to correct whats gone wrong.We just have to get back to doing [things] the way we do it, the way Im used to seeing it all the time. Its not just going to show up on Sundays, he said Tuesday. Weve got to do it throughout the week. Weve got to be in good tackling position, weve got to be staying on top of coverage, being good communicators in the coverage and stopping the run and rushing the passer. Those are the things that if we can do it -- and I think we can do it -- with whatever guys we have out there, for the next eight weeks Im going to give them everything Ive got.Guenther has grown tired of the missed tackles, penalties and general lack of production that was evident when the Bengals gave up 546 yards in a tie with the Redskins before the bye. While replacing some of the underperforming players isnt guaranteed to fix things, he said things cant go on as they have.Frustrated with the performance, Guenther went back and watched every defensive snap of the season and noted issues that needed to be corrected. Then he made notes on each individual player and their issues as well. Players were shown film of those issues during position meetings, with some having to meet with Guenther individually.I watched every individual player and I wrote some notes and I met with those guys about some things they need to clean up and hopefully we can get it done, Guenther said.ddddddddddddessage received.Changes are going to come, safety George Iloka said Tuesday. I just see it as were not playing as well as a defense as we need to right now. They always say the definition of a crazy man is someone who does the same thing on and on and expects to get different results. So, of course, they have to switch things up, whether its personnel, play calling, plays, packages, whatever it may be. Theyre going to try to tweak it to get different results as they should because we havent as a collective whole gotten it done.One of those changes is re-signing defensive end Wallace Gilberry, whom the Bengals parted ways with in the offseason. Gilberry, who was briefly with the Lions this season, will play against the Giants on Monday night in certain packages.The other changes, which havent been announced yet, are swapping personnel, which could mean more snaps for younger defenders like cornerbacks Josh Shaw and Darqueze Dennard, defensive end Will Clarke and rookie linebacker Nick Vigil.We have a lot of guys that have been here a long time, that have been fixtures in our system for a long time, Guenther said during the bye. But, like I told them, its a production business, so even though youve been kind of a guy thats been here and I think theres going to be a younger player that I think can do it better at this point, whether it be for 15 more snaps, Ive got to look at that because some of the guys that have been here, that have been fixtures here, for some reason or another, whether its age or whatever it is, they are not playing at a high level and Ive got to figure out where I can inject some other guys that can do it better, or at least try to. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
