Voluminous image: rip the script and go out once again
Fans had been out in force in Multan this day, but not, as might be true, to protest against the problems of a Pakistan team that has now lost six Tests in a row. Instead, they have been buzzing at both ends of the heavily watered strip of concrete that served as a record Test wicket during the final day’s first Test, eager to transform into something entirely out of character.
Certain occasions call for certain measures, but this has been a normal reaction to the humiliating first game of closing day. Losing in an entry with the score closest to 556 is equivalent to being eaten by a shark sitting on a tree post. It has been an attack on Pakistan’s belief in truth and an obvious invitation to paranoia, with the feeling that nothing is safe from an England team that has now transcended the hosts’ situations to win four away Tests. in the jump.
Who knows what awaits those closest to us? The fans have done their part, but still, a tournament with lower scores than they used to be during the first five days of this sound’s life. The crackers who did their part to reduce Pakistan to 82 in six of their second innings will surely bring the spinners into the game from the start of this second Test, which in theory would coordinate the entire tournament and increase Pakistan’s chances of claiming. the 20 wickets that so obviously escaped them the first time.
For England, the main problem is also psychological. Harry Brook and Joe Root are up against the wall during their epic 454-run surge in the first Test, with the fight for perpetuity in the sweltering heat of Multan at least equivalent to that posed by Pakistan’s attack. Discovering the desire to start over from scratch, especially on what is nominally the same surface, can be an exciting thought experiment.
That said, there are enough hungry batsmen elsewhere in that England situation, including Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who let a lot of charges slip through their own hands… and the hapless Ollie Pope, who flogged his second ball to midwicket. for the nearest 0, one will be taken for the team as a substitute starter. As much as Freddie Flintoff might be doing for the failed contestants on Bullseye right now, he then had to “look at what you could have won” because the awards were handed out before him.
Method information
Pakistan LLLLL (close of 5 checks, most updated first)
England WLWWW
Highlights: Shan Masood and Shoaib Bashir
Workforce Information: Pakistan Title 3 Spinners; Stokes returns
Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (captain), 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
Stokes is the leading returnee for this second Test, the closest to undergoing a longer rehabilitation following his hamstring shock in August. Although there have been some reservations about portraying him as a frontline seaman in such inhospitable situations, he has promised to be “sensible” with his workloads, and will at least rely on Leach as a way to get fit to serve the lion. percentage of the overs. With Matthew Potts fitting into Atkinson’s park, England’s attack has the dignity of three Durham fast bowlers, a prospect Stokes said could be a “proud moment for the club”.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (captain), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.
Sound and situations: Spin to win?
If a leopard cannot change its spots, then it is difficult to imagine how Multan’s strip of rolled dust will also transform into a spinner’s paradise, just a day closer to conceding the fourth-highest overall ever achieved in Check cricket . However, this is a deteriorated surface, which is quite common in white-ball cricket, but almost extraordinary in checks, and should change more for bowlers, even if it is much more obvious. The year and jump are usually provided once the soil moisture has evaporated. From then on, it is worth asking what happens to these important cracks in the main evidence.
Statistics and trivia
- After his career-best 262 in the first Test, in which he overtook Alastair Cook as England’s leading run-scorer, Root’s average is back above 51 for his first age in over six years.
- Any further victory this day would tie Root’s tenure with Shane Warne with 13 Test wins in Asia, the most for any visiting player in the patch. Leach, with 11 wins from 14 tests, would walk alongside Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting to second park on that same list.
- Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub are yet to achieve a double-digit partnership in eight attempts as Pakistan’s opening pair. His average tide of 2.87 is by far the baseline for any ordinary partnership in that role.
- Tazeem Ali, the Warwickshire and England Under-19 player, has been shooting in the nets during those two days of training in the country while he was sleeping.
Quotes
“Our instructions to the curator for the first test were that the ball should spin after the second day. But the pitch didn’t change until the fifth day. Let’s hope the ball starts spinning on the ninth day.”
Pakistani hardworking teacher, Azhar Mahmoodexplains the reason at the back of reusing the similar flooring from Multan
“Obviously I have to be sensible. Playing on a used wicket made the decision a little easier… but I am available to bowl, and when I feel the time is right to come in and make an impact, there is no There will be no doubt in my mind.”
ben stokesEngland captain may return as bowler closer to hamstring tear
Andrew Miller is the British writer for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket