Pakistan heads into Friday’s third Test in a must-win situation if it has to avoid a first series defeat against England in 10 years.
The tourists are 1-0 down in a three-match campaign after a three-wicket defeat in the first Test at Old Trafford, a match where Pakistan was on top until the closing stages, was followed by a draw in a second Test at Southampton where neither side had a chance of victory in a match blighted by bad weather.
There had been concerns that, as happened to the West Indies’ fast bowlers during their 2-1 defeat by England in a preceding behind closed-door series that marked international cricket's return from lockdown, Pakistan’s quicks would be worn out by three back-to-back Tests.
But the lack of action in the second match — Pakistan had bowled just 43.1 overs in England’s first innings when a draw was agreed — should mean a first-choice pace attack of Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah are all fit and firing for Friday’s finale at the Ageas Bowl.
Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq was confident fatigue would not have been an issue in any event.
Despite little play in the second Test, Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq was heartened by the determination of Mohammad Rizwan, who top-scored with 72, the resilience of Pakistan’s top-order in “testing conditions” and the fact an attack featuring leg-spinner Yasir Shah took four wickets.
Big game
“It's a big game and we want to end the series on a good note,” Misbah said.
Meanwhile, England faces another selection dilemma. There will be a strong temptation to stick with the tried and tested pace trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, so effective in the kind of overcast English conditions that are likely to be a factor in the third Test as it was in the second.
But with English cricket constantly obsessed about the next Ashes series, a 2021/22 tour of Australia, the team management would like to give express fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood more Test-match game time before they head down under.
“It's very difficult,” said England coach Chris Silverwood.
“You look at what you need for the here and now and you look down the line for what we potentially need (in Australia).”
“It's a difficult balance to get...There's various factors we look at and pace is one of them: it's pace, movement, bounce, left or right arm...all these things come into account.”
Another immediate issue is that Friday’s match could be played on a used pitch as the weather meant the Ageas Bowl ground staff did not have enough time to prepare a fresh surface after the second Test finished on Monday.
The teams (from):
England: Joe Root (Capt.), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (Capt.), Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah.
Umpires: Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough; TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough; Reserve umpire: Mike Burns; Match referee: Chris Broad.
Match starts at 3.30 p.m IST .
