Will the real Pakistan please stand up?

The Pakistani cricket team has often reminded me of the Croatian tennis player, Goran Ivanisevic.

The lefty with the lightning serve who won Wimbledon in 2001 once said of himself, "in every game I play there are three players in me that could surface at anytime - good Goran, bad Goran and crazy Goran!"
Sometimes you could witness all three in a single afternoon.
The Pakistan cricket team has traditionally been cut from similar cloth.
It has unquestionably produced some of the greatest players of all-time with the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad all from the top drawer.
But often it has been a cricketing nation that has relied on individual brilliance rather than the collective.
And at times, some of the individuals within the team have carried substantial animosities and divisive behaviour onto the field.
There have been times in the last few decades when Pakistan has had as many as four former captains answering to the skipper of the day out on the ground.
At times there have been more hand signals on display than a traffic cop at a Karachi intersection.
Stories even circulated of a period in Wasim's captaincy when he refused to speak to Waqar on the field, with an intermediary used to pass instructions along.
But there is no doubting that when Pakistan teams of any era united behind the one cause, they were a formidable opponent.
For the sake of the second half of this international summer it's hoped that it's the "good" Pakistan team that fronts up Down Under.
On paper, there is a lot to like about this current Pakistan squad.
The undoubted shining light is skipper Mohammad Yousuf.
A veteran of 85 Tests, he is a man who places an extremely high price on his wicket, so much so that he has amassed 7,253 runs at 54 with 24 centuries during his stellar career.
In the absence of former captain, Younis Khan he will be the focal point of the tourist's batting line-up.
But he will have some able allies.
While not in their captain's class, the likes of Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal are all seasoned Test batsmen but in essence each will need to produce scores well above their career averages if their team is to post some sizeable totals.
There is a younger Akmal in the party as well, with the teenage Umar marking his Test debut in Dunedin last month with a century and following up with a further three half-centuries during the drawn series.
On the bowling front, there appears to be a nice balance in the ranks.
Like Umar Akmal, Pakistan has unearthed a young fast bowler of late as well.
Teenage left-arm paceman Mohammad Aamer also made his debut earlier this year against Sri Lanka.
Still raw in international terms, he is capable of nudging 150km/h and along with the recalled Mohammad Sami, the team won't lack pace.
That pair will be backed up by the likes of Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul.
The spin duties will be largely shouldered by leggie Danish Kaneria, a 56-Test veteran who has captured 245 wickets.
He is coming off 13 wickets at 21 from his two Tests against the Black Caps last month.
It all gets underway at the MCG on Boxing Day. Here's hoping that the right Pakistan team turns up.