Lahore: Forgetting the defeat of the first Test, Pakistan is ready for a retaliatory war. However, the second Test of the series against England will start today in Southampton.
Pakistan had won the Old Trafford Test, losing most of the match. The visiting team surrendered for the sixth wicket on the fourth and final day in front of the partnership of Chris Vokes and Jose Butler, both of whom retaliated aggressively. Did the visiting team have no answer?
The series will be at stake in Southampton. If England takes a decisive lead, the spirit of the Green Caps will wane for the third match. There is a double challenge for the management.
Shaun Masood played a good innings in the openers, he failed in the second innings, Abid Ali, who has been performing consistently in Asian conditions, is under pressure in England, including captain Azhar Ali. Technical errors could not be overcome.
He is under severe pressure after criticism due to weak leadership. Babar Azam will be the center of hope once again. Asad Shafiq, who is suffering from inconsistency in performance, will try to play big innings. Mohammad Rizwan also proved himself to be a big match player. Pakistan is considering feeding Fawad Alam, in which case Shadab Khan will have to be out.
A proposal to replace Sohail Khan with Naseem Shah in the pace battery was considered but bowling coach Waqar Younis has given full support to the young pacer in a video conference, with Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi taking 8 wickets at Old Trafford Spinner Yasir Shah will also be present.
Pakistan, on the other hand, could take advantage of the loss of Ben Stokes, an authentic all-rounder of the hosts, who has taken a leave of absence for family reasons. There was talk of giving a chance to Oli Robinson or Mark Wood to make a debut by resting James Anderson from the English team which was still following the rotation policy.
According to Captain Root, it is likely that Anderson will be in action. Wouldn’t you give a chance to the bowler who has taken more than 600 wickets, the man of the match at Old Trafford will be the center of hope as Chris Vokes all-rounder, on the other hand Joffra Archer can be rested, Sam Kieran playing XI England have won two matches in Southampton, lost one and drawn one, Pakistan has yet to play a Test there.
In a video conference, bowling coach Waqar Younis said that it was difficult to digest the defeat in the Old Trafford Test, no one was expecting this result, we dominated for three and a half days, played a good game in most of the sessions. Only 1.2 went bad, on the fourth and final day of the match England played by burning boats, luck did not help us either.
He said that it is not right to blame the error in bowling or batting, there were a few mistakes in every field, there is not a single department of defeat, we are all responsible, we will take the field to resolve not to repeat our mistakes. Committed to a low back in the series, the team has the potential to beat England.