Match Preview
Pakistan and England will go head to head in a 3-match Test series in England starting tomorrow. The first two tests are in Multan where the last time these two came across each other, it was quite a close game.
However, this time, England does not have their main fast bowlers and their fast bowling lineup has Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes in the playing XI. Due to an injury he sustained in the Hundred, Ben Stokes will not participate in the first test. Ollie Pope will be leading the side.
“You cannot underestimate them. If their attack is unknown, we must examine them more carefully and plan against them. You don’t know a new bowler’s strengths and weaknesses. We will assess the conditions and respect every player’s skills.” – Shan Masood
England won a series earlier against Sri Lanka this year and would be hoping to replicate it against Pakistan too but this time the side will be away from home.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has been going through a terrible patch, which has seen them lose to teams you would not expect across formats, like losing to the USA or Ireland in T20Is or losing a Test series at home to Bangladesh.
However, there might be some hope in Pakistan’s Test series against England as, since their Australia tour, this is probably the first time they have fielded their 4 best bowlers Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed and Aamer Jamal. This is the first time, Shaheen, Naseem and Abrar are playing a home Test together.
Pitch and Weather Report
The last time these teams faced each other in Multan it was kind of an unprepared track which assisted spin early on but as time went on, it got easier to bat. This time with two tests back-to-back here, spin can be expected to roll over a couple of batters.
However, the pictures coming from Multan of the surface showed it was a green track but yesterday’s pictures showed a quite significant decrease in the grass covering.
The weather is mostly hot there even in October, the temperature is expected to be around 35 degrees Celsius, with a little bit of rain on Day 2.
Playing XIs
Pakistan
Saim Ayub
Abdullah Shafique
Shan Masood (c)
Babar Azam
Saud Shakeel
Mohammad Rizwan (WK)
Salman Ali Agha
Aamer Jamal
Shaheen Afridi
Naseem Shah
Abrar Ahmed
England
Zak Crawley
Ben Duckett
Ollie Pope
Joe Root
Harry Brook
Jamie Smith
Chris Woakes
Gus Atkinson
Brydon Carse
Jack Leach
Shoaib Bashir
Head-to-Head Record
From 1954 to till date, in these 70 years of Test cricket between these two teams, Pakistan has won 21 out of 89 while England won 29.
39 of those Tests have been drawn.
Where to Watch
Pakistan: A Sports, Tapmad, Tamasha, PTV Sports, Geo Super
North America: Willow TV
England: Sky Sports, BBC Sport (Radio)
MENA and South East Asia: Cricbuzz
India: Fancode
Australia: Fox Sports
