Pakistan and England will face each other in the final Test match of the ongoing series on 24th October at Rawalpindi.
Match preview:
Currently, the ongoing series between Pakistan and England is evenly poised as the upcoming match will decide the winner of the series. Or maybe the series can end in a draw? Only time will tell.
But this time the match will be on Rawalpindi pitch, a pitch famous for “batting paradise” . When England toured Pakistan in 2022, the side plundered 506 runs in just one day as Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Harry Brook smashed centuries. But this time around, the case can be different.
Pakistan have used fans to dry the pitch and both of the players have relied on their spin attack. Pakistan have remained unchanged but England have recalled Rehan Ahmed who was amazing when he last played against Pakistan while Gus Atkinson made a comeback.
England has dropped Brydon Carse who took nine wickets at 24.33 in his first two Tests, Atkinson will have to work extra-smart to fill that void.
Talking about England, they were seen practicisng six-hitting ahead of the third Test match in Rawalpindi. There was a six-hitting competition which was won by the surprising player – Rehan Ahmed.
But if we talk about the match, England will rely on their sweep shots to tackle Pakistan’s spin. All eyes will be on Rehan Ahmed from ENglish side as he was at his best and took his maiden Test fifer in the Karachi Test in 2022.
Talking about Pakistan, they will be hoping that Kamran Ghulam continues to perform as he proved to be a revelation for the side. Replacing Babar Azam, he scored a match-winning century after his side was 19/2 in the first innings.
Salman Ali Agha is another key player for Pakistan. He has always been a rocksolid player and his ability to play with tail makes him more admirable.
Lastly, the hopes will be again on Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali to spin the web around English batters.
Pitch and weather report:
The weather is expected to be dry. Talking about pitch, rawalpindi pitch is famous for batting as it gets hard for bowlers to bowl. Nevertheless, Pakistan have tried to dry the pitch and both Stokes and Jason opined that spinners will have a role to play as the match progresses.
Playing XI:
Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Kamran Ghulam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Noman Ali, 11 Zahid Mehmood
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.
Head-to-head:
From 1954 to the present, in these 70 years of Test cricket between these two teams, Pakistan won 22 out of 90 while England won 30. The rest of the Tests ended in a draw.
Prediction:
This match will be a series decider. Pakistan’s first Test win in almost 4 years will give them confidence to beat England and finally win a Test series in 2021.
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
