PAK vs ENG 2024/25, preview of the 3rd test match PAK vs ENG Trendy Blogger

Big picture: Rawalpindi? Rawalspindi…

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Has any team ever taken Mike Tyson’s famous aphorism more literally than Ben Stokes’ England? Their attitude to risk and reward has resulted in a glut of remarkable Test matches in recent years, but in Multan last week their fifth defeat in seven in the subcontinent was a cold knockout.

At 73 for 0 and 211 for 2 in the first innings, England’s fists were spinning – most notably those of Ben Duckett, whose fourth Test century featured another absurd series of sweeps. Thereafter, however, England put together 224 for 18 wickets in the remainder of the match, as they came up against a precise one-two combo from Pakistan’s spinners, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali.

Normally, the defendants would be warned for the rematch, especially with the series now very much in the balance. But that’s not how this England team works. They see clear logic in taking an aggressive approach in bowler-friendly conditions, to get their runs on the board before the ball bearing their name arrives. Because, as England showed when they retreated into their shell at the end of their tour of India earlier this year, dying in a hole isn’t really a better option either.

And as England showed right here two years ago, they don’t stay there if all goes well either. Pakistan’s dead bridge policy was in full force in 2022, when the visitors went on the offensive on an extraordinary opening day, accumulating 506 for 4 in 75 overs, with centuries for Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett , Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, all four of whom will return for a second helping in the coming days.

And this is the kind of punch in the mouth that Pakistan itself is hoping to avoid, as it pursues its own cunning plan from Multan.

There could still be a significant difference between last week’s reused surface, the one which had already seen five days of hard-fought testing during England’s extraordinary victory in the series opener, and this one, which suffered an emergency delay in the four days between games.

Despite all the work the grounds staff have done, with industrial fans and commercial heaters at either end creating a deconstruction wind tunnel, they may still struggle to open cracks in the surface if there were none at the start. England are certainly not preparing as if they are heading into a minefield from day one. Instead, they lined up before practice for a six-hit contest, with Rehan Ahmed beating Brook in the final and Brendon McCullum edging Stokes for the longest hit of the day.

They do, however, anticipate a lack of reverse swing on a relatively lush outfield and have mitigated their omission of a second frontline seamer with the inclusion of Rehan – whose leg-spin is just as likely to conjure up a wicket of nowhere when things happen. difficult, as was the case with the long jump to Babar Azam that sparked his debut five-for, like a run through a lineout when things are in his favor.

Gus Atkinson also returns, a handy man to be able to come off the bench, although the absence of Brydon Carse will be a difficult gap to fill. He took nine wickets at 24.33 in his first two Tests, which is an admirable return by any debutant’s standards. However, achieving such figures in the heat and dust of Multan – and in the shadow of England’s 823 for 7 – was truly exceptional.

Either way, we’re bracing ourselves for the kind of grandstand finish that hadn’t seemed remotely on the cards after England flexed their muscles in their first Test innings victory. Pakistan have not won a home series since February 2021, but confidence in their cricket has now returned. This is best exemplified by the complementary but contrasting spin styles of Noman and Sajid, but it is also visible in Kamran Ghulam’s composed arrival in the team and the valiant lower-order resistance that Salman Agha oversaw during their crucial second round in Multan. Despite all the flaws that remain in their setup, they now have a chance to strike.

Form guide

Pakistan WLLLL (last five tests, most recent first)
England LWLWW

In the spotlight – Kamran Ghulam and Rehan Ahmed

This was one of the great debuts in Multan, as Kamran Ghulam came in from the cold, after a decade of service on Pakistan’s domestic circuit, and in place of one of their modern greats in Babar Azam. His resolute and measured century proved to be ideal pace for the conditions, as he absorbed the pressure of the English attack, hit back when the opportunity presented itself and steered his team to a total of 366 in first set which proved decisive when the field began to heat up during the last three days of the match. The challenge, of course, is to sustain that effort, especially if Pakistan lose the toss this time and find themselves chasing the match on a worn surface. But one of the advantages of his years in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is that he has seen all those surfaces before, and as that debut has shown, he is unfazed by the step up to Test level.

Second season syndrome is a familiar challenge for many young cricketers, but England’s young spinners have it tougher than most. Réhan Ahmed was the toast of English cricket after his fairytale debut in Karachi two years ago, but he has since had to wait eight months between international opportunities, having made a disappointing impression on the tour of India in February, with 11 wickets at 44.00 in three defeats. appearances. He was also put on the back burner by the white ball setup, with Adil Rashid showing no signs of relinquishing his crown, and at the age of 20, Rehan also had to deal with the feeling that he is no longer the most acclaimed cricketer in his category. family, with younger brother Farhan, 16, making a splash in the Nottinghamshire County Championship after his impressive performances for the England Under-19s. But if Rehan’s Pakistani counterpart Zahid Mahmood felt like a spare during the second Test in Multan, there is little risk that England captain Stokes will be as unaccommodating in his role as captain. Expect him to be trusted with key breakthroughs in the offensive areas, and he’ll be eager to return the faith.

Team News: Rehan returns, Pakistan unchanged

Why change a winning formula? Pakistan didn’t look perfectly balanced in the second Test, with Sajid and Noman bowling over 87% of their overs in two innings, but it worked very well, and if Pindi’s pitch performs as expected, a repeat performance will be more than sufficient. . Aamer Jamal’s batting provided important balance in the lower-middle order, even if his six seam overs were an afterthought, while legpinner Zahid returns to the scene on his debut in 2022, where he claimed the staggering figures of 4 for 235 in 33 overs.

Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (captain), 4 Kamran Ghulam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (week), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Noman Ali, 11 Zahid Mehmood

England rolled the dice on a clearly spin-friendly surface and recalled Rehan as part of a three-spin attack. It’s an echo of their approach in the third Test of their last tour of Pakistan, when he was again called upon for the series finale and stole the show with a five for the second innings. On the bowling front, Atkinson returns after missing the second Test, in place of Carse – the outstanding quick on both sides in this series – and Matthew Potts, and ahead of Olly Stone, back home after his marriage and can -maybe he would have liked to go on his honeymoon after all. Stokes, who bowled just five overs after returning to the team last week following a torn hamstring, may have to increase his workload if there is help outside the ground or, more likely, in the air.

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 Gus Atkinson, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.

Location and conditions: Rake and ruin?

Pakistan’s cunning plan worked in Multan, so the industrial fans came out again, in another bold gamble to inject life into one of the flattest, most track-laden surfaces in existence. Brook spoke of the pitch having also been ‘raked’, as ground staff attempted to exacerbate any difficulties that might exist on a pitch which clearly suited England’s Bazballers when they last visited two years ago . The relatively lush outfield might not facilitate reverse movement to the same extent as was evident in last week’s second Multan Test. The route further north, combined with the arrival of winter, suggests some early arrivals due to poor light.

Statistics and anecdotes

Pakistan have won five of their previous 15 Tests in Rawalpindi, but none since 2021, when they beat South Africa by 95 runs. Since then, they have lost three from four – including a draw against Australia – with England’s victory in 2022 followed by Bangladesh’s two from two for a historic series victory.

Despite twin scores of 9 and 16 in the second Test, Harry Brook still averages 101.25 in five Tests in Pakistan. If he makes another 100 runs in the third Test, in less than 146 balls, he will break Ben Duckett’s new record for the fastest batter to 2000 Test runs (2293 balls).

Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub made their first double-figure opening partnership of 15 in the second Test in Multan, but their average of 4.70 after ten innings remains by far the lowest for any regular partnership in this role.

Zak Crawley will play his 50th Test for England. His average of 32.36 isn’t much to write home about, but his penchant for going big once set certainly is. He made a century in his last appearance in Rawalpindi, and he needs 184 to reach 3000 in Tests.

England have lost seven consecutive tosses, dating back to the second Test against the West Indies in July.

Quotes

“Adding Rehan’s free spirit and desperation to change the game every time he has the ball in his hands is a huge bonus for us this week. Legspinners have an incredible ability to open up a game… You’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Ben Stokesthe England captain, is ready to back Rehan Ahmed despite a quiet season for Leicestershire.