Injury-hit When Pakistan takes on a dominant England side in the third and final Test match, which will begin on Saturday in Karachi, they will be living in fear of being swept at home for the first time ever.
The home squad, which is led by Babar Azam, has come up against an England team that is in excellent form. England is thriving with an aggressive attitude, which has gained them eight wins out of their most recent nine Tests.
During England’s first trip to Pakistan to play a Test match since 2005, they won the first match in Rawalpindi by a score of 74 runs. In the second match, which ended in Multan on Monday after a difficult battle of 26 runs, England prevailed.
Ailments to Pakistan three primary fast bowlers have made their issues even worse, with world-class spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi being ruled out with a knee injury even before the start of the series. Pakistan’s problems have been worsened by these injuries.
Replacement Haris Rauf sustained an injury to his right quadriceps while playing in the first Test, and Naseem Shah is still not fully healed from a shoulder injury he suffered before the second Test.
Under-pressure Thursday, despite the fact that he was facing a clean sweep, Azam put on a brave front. According to Azam, “We missed out on vital opportunities in both of the matches, which ultimately cost us.”
But the boys are hungry for redemption, and we have a solid track record here in Karachi, so I have high hopes that we will redeem ourselves.
The victory that England achieved in Multan was not easy to achieve because they were defending a goal of 355 runs on a field that favoured spinners on the first two days but slowed down on the third and fourth days of the match.
After the home team required 157 runs to win on the fourth day of the match, the Express pacer Mark Wood took four wickets for 65 runs, including the important wickets of Saud Shakeel (94) and Mohammad Nawaz (45).
The victory earned England their first series victory in Pakistan in 22 years, despite the fact that they have not toured the country since 2005 because to concerns over their safety.
Despite the fact that they have bowled out Pakistan in each of their innings so far, England’s successes have been built on their aggressive batting, which has been termed “Bazball” after the moniker of England’s new coach Brendan McCullum.
The bowlers have had more time to get rid of the opposition thanks to the high objectives that have been set, and while this strategy has been successful thus far, captain Ben Stokes is keeping a level head about it.
After the match in Multan, Stokes commented on how challenging it is to compete in the subcontinent, saying that it is “always difficult to come and win.”
“One of the things that we do is try to remain present in the moment. Simply said, you should always focus on the here and now.”
After the conclusion of the series and the likelihood of another spin-friendly field at Karachi’s National Stadium, England may replace Will Jacks with the intriguing leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who is 18 years old but has no international caps.
Mohammad Wasim Junior, a bowler, may make his debut for Pakistan in lieu of Mohammad Ali, who did not take any wickets in Multan. Pakistan is considering bringing back former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed to offer experience to a batting line-up that has been struggling.
In 2018, England’s lone 3-0 series win in the subcontinent came against Sri Lanka, whereas Pakistan has never lost every match in a series at home against anyone. England’s only series win in the subcontinent came against Sri Lanka.