England's juggernaut in Tests has turned into an overwhelming force and seems to recognise no restrictions. The Bazball theory that was questioned initially and there were several eyebrows raised on the sustenance of the same has taken the Test arena by storm and muted its detractors.
Ben Stokes' England have taken to the theory like fish takes to water and produced results that have left everyone flabbergasted. When the visitors had arrived in Rawalpindi for the first Test they knew what they were about to encounter.
The surface in Rawalpindi turned out to be a batting paradise and remained placid throughout the entirety of the encounter. The way the visitors racked up 506 on Day 1 of the Test (the highest-ever total on Day 1 in the history of the format) added weight to the talks that the match could not see a result.
But to everyone's disbelief, Stokes and co denied to pay heed to all the talks and registered a historic victory on Day 5 by defying all odds. They bagged their third-ever Test victory on Pakistan soil and were hailed by several experts for their remarkable achievement.
The Three Lions kept pushing for a win throughout the course of the game but there were moments when it looked like all of their efforts were not going to yield a fruitful result. Hence, when the win came which once looked improbable the skipper was quick to laud the entire team for its strenuous effort and hailed the victory as one of 'England's greatest away wins.'
"We wanted to come here to Pakistan and carry on with our mantra of exciting cricket. I've got no interest in trying to play for a draw, the dressing room has no interest in playing for a draw. Felt on this kind of wicket, almost had to entice the batsmen to play an attacking shot. Today we were fortunate to get the ball reverse-swinging. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson were fantastic today. We won probably about 8 minutes before we would've come off. This is probably up there as one of England's greatest away wins."
They continued with the same zeal in the second Test in Multan and emerged victorious by 26 runs in what turned out to be an intriguing tug of war across the five days.
There are several positives that have emerged out of the Test series for the tourists. Young guns putting their hands up and performing, seamers delivering the goods even on docile surfaces, and the continued success of Bazball. It's just that their position on the World Test Championship 2021-23 points table would have been entirely different had this success come earlier.
On the contrary, the hosts must be extremely disappointed with the way the series has unfolded for them. They must be hurting very badly as they could have easily been on the ascendancy and not trailing behind in the series only if they held their nerves during the most crunch moments.
The Babar Azam-led side has seen some individual brilliance that will surely hold them in good stead going into the Third Test in Karachi. From Saud Shakeel's defiance to Abrar Ahmed's phenomenal beginning, there are a lot of reasons why the hosts will feel confident about salvaging their pride to an extent in the Karachi Test.
Pitch and conditions
One can expect the wicket at Karachi to be a good batting surface. The last Test match that was played at the venue between Pakistan and Australia earlier in the year was a high-scoring draw as more than thousand runs were scored across the five days of the affair. However, with the kind of criticism that the Rawalpindi surface copped after producing a belter it seems that the pitch curator must be under pressure to produce a sporting wicket in Karachi.
Pakistan
The hosts are at a totally different stage of their development in the Test format and cannot be compared to England who are playing a totally different brand of cricket under the guidance of Brendon McCullum. The series loss to England has jolted Pakistan's chances of playing in the finals of the WTC final. The series loss has already inflicted a lot of pain on Pakistan but if it turns out to be a clean sweep then that will be even more disappointing.
Since veteran batter Azhar Ali has already announced that Karachi Test will be his last, one might expect the hosts to move heaven and earth to make it memorable for him.
Predicted Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Ali, Abrar Ahmed
England
England have proven their might in conditions totally alien to them. If victory in the first Test was termed as one of the greatest ever away wins then a clean sweep could easily be one of the most iconic series wins and the Three Lions will be driven to make it happen. Right-arm wrist spinner Rehan Ahmed is all set to play in his debut Test and must be itching to make a wonderful impression up front.
Harry Brook, who has already struck two centuries in his debut series has arguably emerged as the biggest positive for England in the batting order and will be eyeing to bring his third.
Predicted Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed
PAK vs ENG Head to Head
Played- 88 | England- 28 | India- 21 | Draw – 39
PAK vs ENG Broadcast Details
Match Timings – 10:30 AM IST
Live Streaming – Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV app
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