How long will Pakistan remain dependent on Misbah-ul-haq and Younis Khan?

Pakistan cricket has been struggling for some time now with issues of administration, funding, poor political climate, etc. Gone are the glory days of the 90s where they enjoyed overwhelming success, boasting some of the big names in world cricket in their side. In recent years, since the likes of Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf have called it a day, one feels that the quality and performance as well as the stature of the Pakistan side have gone down drastically. Since the 2011 world cup, where they reached the semi-finals, one can say that they have not done anything substantial which can make their nation proud. One primary reason for this is the lack of performance from youngsters coming into the side. But, what needs to be evaluated is that is there really a dearth of quality players in the country. The answer to that might well be no as Pakistan has always had produced talent and so the problem in recent years has been how that talent is being channelized and how well the youngsters are living up to their talent and grabbing the umpteen opportunities that are handed out to them. I believe, they are lagging a lot in both of those departments. The bowlers who have come up like Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz have utilized their talent and done well in the chances they have got but the batting seems to be as fragile as ever. After losing a sold top-order player in Salman Butt to a scandal and Shoiab Mallik to lack of form, there is over-dependence on Misbah and Younis these days who try their best to bail them out of trouble but it can’t always be a two-man show. Talking of the others, if we consider Umar Akmal for example, he has been around for a while now and has all the shots in the book, but has thrown away numerous opportunities that have been given to him. Same is the case with Asad Shafiq. Since the previous generation of baters left the game, there haven’t been many coming into the side, who have taken up responsibility as far as batting is concerned.
Taking a different angle, it could be said that may be there is no one these days in Pakistan cricket who could guide the youngsters and channelize their talent in a constructive way. In the days gone by, Imran Khan did that job so well for many years, under whom Pakistan saw Wasim, Waqar, Anwar and Inzamam emerge and then in subsequent years this mantle was taken up by Wasim and the Inzi, who did really well with the youngsters guiding them and getting the best out of them. With Pakistan reeling in the ICC ranking currently in both ODI and test cricket, Pakistan cricket board needs to take some conscious measures to overhaul the entire climate surrounding the cricketing fraternity in the country and carve out ways to help the national side reach its maximum productivity. We all love to watch it when a Pakistan side plays with its usual flair and so let’s just hope the young batsmen realize their talent and provide us with some quality cricket to cherish.