Rawalpindi: England, who have been playing sensational cricket under the leadership of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, will have to taste Pakistan’s conditions for the first time in 17 years. The first test It will start from Thursday in Rawalpindi.
Under Stokes and former New Zealand greats McCollumEngland have reinvented their game – winning six of their last seven Tests at home – dubbed “Bazball” after the coach’s nickname.
It came after a disappointing run of just one win in 17 Tests – including a 4-0 Ashes humiliation in Australia – which led to the sacking of head coach Chris Silverwood and Stokes taking over from Joe Root. Took over the responsibility.
But the lower and slower pitches in Pakistan – where England last played a Test in 2005 – pose a different challenge, McCullum admitted.
Security issues have meant that Pakistan have had to play most home Tests in the last two decades at neutral grounds, usually the United Arab Emirates.
“We understand the size of the challenge in front of us – but it’s great, and that’s why you want to play the game,” McCollum said at a press conference.
“But at the same time, if we are given an opportunity to try to play aggressive and attacking cricket, we will try to take that option.”
In England’s new style, he chased down targets of 277, 299, 296 and 378, making it easy to win Tests that year.
But they have won only two of the 22 Tests they have played in Pakistan, losing four and drawing the remaining 16.
Sam spearhead James Anderson, who toured with England in 2005 but did not play a Test, will have to draw on his 667-wicket experience to fend off the expected irresponsible pitches and pacer Mark Wood is out with a hip injury. .
Root will anchor an inexperienced batting line-up that needs to counter the new spin attack of Pakistan’s left-armer Nouman Ali as well as the uncapped duo of Zahid Mehmood and Abrar Ahmed.
Shaheen is out
The home team will miss strike bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is out of the series with a knee injury, while veteran spinner Yasir Shah has been dropped due to form issues.
An inexperienced pace attack will be led by Naseem Shah, who has played 13 Tests, while Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim Jr are both in line to make their Test debuts.
Captain Babar Azam tweeted that playing against England is always great and I am looking forward to embarking on this journey with our talented players.
If Pakistan win the series 2-0, they will move from fifth to second in the World Test Championship, with a home series against New Zealand to play. The top two teams out of nine will advance to next year’s finals.
England are seventh and out of the race for the finals.
Pakistan could produce a more result-oriented pitch at the Rawalpindi Stadium after scoring 1,187 runs for the loss of just 14 wickets in a drawn match against Australia earlier this year.
The pitch was rated “below average” by match referee Ranjan Madugale and “dead” by Australian batsman Steve Smith.
If the pitch takes spin, England will rely on the experience of left-arm Jack Leach and may even include 18-year-old uncapped leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who was initially named as a reserve last season. Was included in the squad for the week.
Leach has experience on Asian pitches, taking 28 wickets in Sri Lanka and 18 in India in the last four years.
From Pakistan): Babar Azam (Captain), Muhammad Rizwan, Imamul Haque, Abdullah Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Muhammad Ali, Shan Masood, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Nawaz, Noman Ali, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mahmood, Muhammad Wasim Jr. Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed
(from) England: Ben Stokes (capt), James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zach Crowley, Ben Duckett, Ben Fowkes, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Rehan Ahmed
Umpires: Joel Wilson (WIS) and Ahsan Raza (PAK)
TV Umpire: Marias Erasmus (RSA)
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)