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Pakistan was never troubled during this two Test series against Bangladesh who are Test cricket's weakest team. Nor should they have been troubled considering the 217 rating point difference between the two teams.
At no stage in either Test could Bangladesh have been classed as being even remotely ahead of Pakistan. Pakistan totally outclassed Bangladesh in every aspect of the game. Pakistan's bowlers even restricted Bangladesh to 160 runs or less in four innings.
At the same time, the Pakistani batsmen were able to scored over 950 runs in only two innings for the loss of only 18 wickets. In all, it was yet another unbalanced slaughter - an increasingly worrying trend in world cricket.
Pakistan's dominant performance came after being forced into a four-month break between Test matches. The delay occurred after New Zealand cancelled their tour due to security concerns following the September 11 attack in New York.
Pakistan has held down third place in the ratings for most of the last four year. However, over this time Pakistan's rating has been trending downwards from 1116 points in January 1998 to 1057 points in March 2001.
Pakistan's effort in this series has consolidated their grip on third place in the ratings. Pakistan's rating increased by seven points to 1068. They have now increased their lead over fourth placed England by 19 ratings points.
South Africa remains secure in second place with a comfortable 68-point lead over Pakistan. The difference has recently narrowed to its closest point since August 2000. The narrowing is partly due to South Africa's recent loss in Australia in another series whitewash.
Despite this, second place remains unattainable for Pakistan in the short to medium term. Even if Pakistan were to win its next four Tests, against West Indies and Sri Lanka, then Pakistan's rating would only rise to 1081 points. Pakistan would then still be 42 ratings-points behind South Africa. The difference would more than halve to 24 points only if South Africa lost another three Tests to Australia in March.
Bangladesh has now played more than ten Tests and so receive a full, rather than provisional, rating. Unfortunately for Bangladesh, their rating now stands at 838 points. This is the record lowest rating by any country in the history of Test cricket.
Bangladesh has an iron grip on the Test ratings wooden spoon. They are now 83 ratings points behind a much-relieved Zimbabwe, who hold ninth place. There is another 98 points before they would bother West Indies in seventh place.
Over their first ten Tests, Bangladesh has lost nine and secured only one draw. In that drawn Test against Zimbabwe they were only saved by the weather when the entire final two days were rained out. At the end of day three, Bangladesh were 199 runs behind with seven second-innings wickets in hand. They would most likely have lost by an innings.
Bangladesh has equalled the worst ever start to Test cricket by any nation. South Africa secured only one draw in the period 1889 to 1902 when they played their initial ten Tests. The 'next worst start' was made by Sri Lanka with three draws and seven losses from 1982 to 1984.
The outlook does not look bright for Bangladesh. They initially looked more competitive than expected against India in their first Test until the end of the third day. There afterwards they fell apart.
Bangladesh has lost seven Tests by an innings and three others by either eight or nine wickets. The size of the problem is demonstrated best by their not being remotely competitive with Zimbabwe. As noted above, Zimbabwe is already a distant second last in the ratings.
It is expected that new Test cricket nations will struggle for a time. However, the measure for Bangladesh may well be 'When will they draw a Test without assistance from the weather?' rather then when will they win a Test.
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