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When England eventually hands it back to them tomorrow, after they’ve got their fill, Pakistan will be taking on a relatively easy task. On one of their most forgiving grounds, they must defeat one of England’s worst bowling attacks.
Let’s get to the point though, unlike this Test match: Pakistan has managed to remove conditions from the equation while planning to collapse in the third innings. This year, no team has a lower average third-inning score than Pakistan, whose three figures of 115, 172, and 146 sum up their campaign. Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, Sydney. three games, three losses.
Pakistan wasted a slim advantage in Sydney as Josh Hazlewood swept them away. That should not have come as a surprise, but Bangladesh carved out a route to victory by taking advantage of Pakistan’s vulnerability at that point in the match. As the match draws to a close, the side that prepared a flat pitch to bat first is frequently the only one who can lose. This presents a risk. Reaching this position is dangerous, and every scene seems suddenly fraught with peril, much like a movie in the aforementioned series.
Although the criticism of the surface has already started, Pakistan would be well advised to avoid becoming entangled in it.
It was hard to disagree with whatever Naseem Shah said when he expressed his frustrations during the first Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi regarding the pitch’s lack of help for fast bowling. Shah is one of Pakistan’s best bowlers without reward. However, two sessions later, Pakistan collapsed in a heap, giving Bangladesh a ten-wicket victory.
England trail by 64 runs with two days remaining and seven wickets remaining, including a 243-run partnership that has never lost. In the heat and dust of Multan, they will soon be leaving Pakistan’s 556 in the rearview mirror. They will have more than enough to demolish Pakistan here, just like they did in Rawalpindi two years ago, where they found enough in a single day.
However, being aware of England’s strategy does not guarantee that it won’t be used. Pakistan is well aware that they haven’t won a Test at home in almost four years, but they’re not even close to breaking it.
Salman Ali Agha expressed confidence that the last two days would see the fissures “open up wide” yesterday. Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, who were a member of the team that orchestrated that incredible victory for Pindi in 2022, would find that interesting. It’s just been one innings since Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique returned to form, and Babar Azam’s hunt is still ongoing.
While Masood has frequently cited Pakistan’s victories during his time as captain, Pakistan must also accept some of the blame for the fact that, in each and every instance that has occurred, they have dismounted from positions of superiority and fallen into the depths of defeat.
Once again, the hosts are in a situation where they will need to muster the kind of grit they have not shown in any of the three Test matches they have played this year in order to pull off the bore draw that ends their losing run, which is the very minimum that Pakistan’s supporters should anticipate given the conditions and the quality of the opposition’s bowling attack.
And as it is known, sometimes even mediocrity is something that is difficult to achieve.