Lahore: After 10 years in the Test series, the threat of defeat began to loom over Pakistan’s head.
The hosts won the first match of the Test series between Pakistan and England in Manchester by 3 wickets, the second match in Southampton was drawn due to heavy rain, now the Green Caps fight for survival in the third match on Friday at the same venue. Fighting, if the host team wins, the Green Caps will have to endure the shock of losing their first series in England in 10 years.
Pakistan lost the last series on English soil in 2010. The team led by Salman Butt won only one of the four matches and lost three. At that time, the spot-fixing scandal caused a storm in world cricket and Misbah-ul-Haq was crowned captain. Under his leadership, Pakistan drew the series 2-2 in 2016, earning the honor of being number one in the world Test rankings for the first and last time in history.
Sarfraz Ahmed was the captain in 2018, both the teams won one match, now even if the third Test is drawn, the series will be lost, although this time the rain interference was predicted to be less than the previous match, but England’s incredible weather Can be a hindrance to the game.
Due to rain yesterday, the cricketers had to be confined to indoor practice. The natural environment was not available to adapt to the conditions. However, the cricketers continued the practice taking full advantage of the facilities available inside the hall, said batting coach Younis Khan. In the presence of the pacers’ fast balls tested the skill of the top order.
After Shaun Masood and Abid Ali, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam overcame the shortcomings by constantly facing off-stump balls. After Mohammad Rizwan, Fawad Alam and Asad Shafiq, tail enders also improved their batting skills. In practice, Waqar Younis advised Abbas, Shaheen and Naseem Shah to improve the line and length. Faheem Ashraf also did a long session. Despite the artificial turf not being very conducive, Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan performed spin bowling.
Consultations between head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Azhar Ali also continued, with some players training at the gym. Meanwhile, Misbah-ul-Haq wants to give the nation a gift of Independence Day by winning the third Test match. In his column on the PCB website, he wrote that celebrating Independence Day during a Test match is a special occasion.
Pakistan’s first victory in England in 1954 was immediately after Independence Day. The memorable Lord’s victory in 1982 was a similar occasion. When I won the Oval Test in 2016 and drew the series, August 14 was the second day of the Southampton Test. The day was also Independence Day but unfortunately the match was affected due to rain. Hopefully, after winning the third Test here, they will be able to give the gift of freedom to the nation despite the delay.
Misbah-ul-Haq wrote that the decision to bat first in the second Test was not an easy one but the top order put up considerable resistance. Abid Ali, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam managed to have a good time on the crease in the most difficult conditions.
Mohammad Rizwan improved the team’s position by playing with the tailenders. In the rain-affected match, the Seamers got a chance to bowl and they also showed a great performance. If the match had been completed, we could have taken advantage of the conditions in a much better way. However, the confidence of the bowlers has increased. We can expect them to perform even better in the third Test.