When Imam-ul-Haq found himself in a tangle against a sharply rising back-of-good-length delivery from Kemar Roach in the second innings of the first Test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, it made many wonder about the merits of the shot he attempted. A carve against a new Dukes ball from around the wicket is a low-percentage shot. Imam probably thought the same as he walked back with his head down.
After posting a smart 63 two nights ago, he told the host broadcaster that Pakistan had arrived in the Caribbean with sufficient practice to counter the Dukes ball. That innings marked a solid return for Imam to the Test side after he was benched in Sylhet, Pakistan's last Test. His 102-ball knock was a perfect blend of defiance and intent - a prerequisite against a well-oiled pace attack on a pitch where significant lateral movement is on offer. He moulded himself into the role of second fiddle when Shan Masood took on the attack, before taking the burden of run-scoring on himself later in their 156-run second-wicket partnership.
While the bounce in the pitch had become uneven by the time Pakistan came out to chase 211 on day four, the movement off the surface and in the air was consistent throughout. Imam had relied on his defence in the first innings, so what changed when Pakistan required it more than ever with plenty of time on their hands?
The answer to that is a troubling trend afflicting almost all Pakistan batters, especially in this recent horror run.
Over the last two years, Imam has averaged 54.50 in the first innings, which is the highest amongst all the Pakistan batters (though it is a small sample as he's only played four Tests) ahead of Mohammad Rizwan's 49.00 and Saud Shakeel's 44.69. But when it comes to the second innings, Imam's batting average nosedives to a mere 3.50. Rizwan's takes a hit of more than 22 points, and Shakeel's plummets by 23.5.
Much has been said about Pakistan's inability to take 20 wickets away from home, which compelled selectors to overhaul the bowling attack for this series. Of the six bowlers Pakistan used in Sylhet, only two bowled in Tarouba. Pakistan made five changes from the squad which was swept 2-0 in Bangladesh, all the changes focused on bowling with only one forced change in the batting.
This is not a new problem, nor an unknown one. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, in the wake of the defeat, resolutely defended the team selection, especially the bowling combination, which saw an extra seamer replace a specialist batter. But he acknowledged that Pakistan's issues with their second-innings batting were "damaging" the team.
"Imam was playing very well in the first innings," he said. "If he'd been a bit more patient and played a bigger innings, we could have taken a lead, which would have changed the game. In our second innings, we are facing issues. We have identified problems and spoken to batters, but we collapse really quickly and it causes great harm to the team."
And while it may have been necessary to tinker with their bowling, persisting with the same batting has left the job half done on the selectors' part. Perhaps it was because of the dearth of options. Over the last two years, Pakistan have the worst average (19.90) batting second in Tests of all the nine teams in the World Test Championship. The gulf in their first- and second-innings averages is a massive 11.03, the biggest among all the teams. They also happen to be the only side to have a double-digit difference.
It puts Pakistan's abysmal record of ten defeats in 14 matches in this period into context. While Pakistan bowlers matched the West Indian attack in Tarouba, they squandered the match because of their batting fragilities. Their middle and lower order collapsed on the third morning and the entire line-up, except for their captain, capitulated on the fourth day.
Never before have Pakistan lost eight Tests away from home on the bounce and it is difficult to see this streak ceasing until Pakistan sort their batting inadequacies.