PAK vs. ENG 2024/25, preview of the 2nd test match of PAK vs. ENG

Big picture: Rip up the script and do it again

Fans were out in droves in Multan this week, but not, as might be justified, to protest the failings of a Pakistan team that has now lost six Tests in a row. Instead, they are buzzing away at either end of the heavily watered concrete strip that served as the record-breaking Test wicket in the first Test last week, wanting it to transform into something completely out of character.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, but this was an extraordinary response to last week's humiliating series opener. Losing by an innings after scoring 556 is like being eaten by a shark while sitting up in a tree. It was an attack on Pakistan's perception of reality and an open invitation to paranoia, with the feeling that nowhere is safe from an England team that has now surpassed the hosts' conditions and won four away Tests.

Who knows what awaits us after the fans have done their bit, other than a significantly lower scoring contest than the first five days of this pitch's existence. The cracks, who played their part in reducing Pakistan to 82 for 6 in the second innings, will bring the spinners into play from the start of this second Test, which could theoretically improve the overall contest and increase Pakistan's chances of finishing 20th Wickets that had so obviously eluded them the first time around.

However, it remains to be seen who will get these wickets. Of the three seamers who actually did quite well in miserable conditions last week, both Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah are out, while Abrar Ahmed – Pakistan's best red-ball spinner – will miss this contest after missing midway through The last time he was hospitalized was a week ago. Mir Hamza was called into the squad as a new left-arm signing but was left out in favor of three spinners. Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mahmood are at least experienced spin options, but none of them have played a first-class game in nine months.

And while it's hard to imagine the bowling challenge being any tougher than in the first Test, Pakistan's pitching policy has had the unintended consequence of strengthening England's batting power. On his return from a serious hamstring tear, Ben Stokes certainly could not have been expected to shoulder the bowling loads that Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson carried in this game. With Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir likely to find enough to keep them interested, he is instead able to step back in as the third player and add an extra layer of threat to an already powerful batting line-up at number 6.

For England, the biggest challenge is likely to be mental. Harry Brook and Joe Root went to town in their epic 454-run stand in the first Test, with the endurance effort in Multan's sweltering heat at least equal to that of the Pakistan attack. Finding the will to start again, especially on a nominally the same surface, could be an interesting psychological experiment.

However, there are plenty of hungry batters elsewhere in the England order, including both Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who let huge hundreds slip through their own fingers… and the hapless Ollie Pope, who hit his second ball to midwicket for 0 after taking it one for the team as a substitute opener. Just as Freddie Flintoff would do for failed entrants at Bullseye later that year, he then had to “see what could have been won” while the prizes were paraded before him.

Form Guide

Pakistan LLLLL (last five tests, most recent first)
England WLWWW

In the spotlight: Shan Masood and Shoaib Bashir

It was remarkable how quickly Shan Masood directed his anger at his bowlers after Pakistan's innings defeat. On the one hand, he was right: England took 19 wickets (excluding Abrar) and Pakistan seven, so his claim that “good teams find a way” had some merit. On the other hand, this ignored a serious dip in standards in Pakistan's second innings, for which Masood himself was deeply to blame. Although he scored an excellent 151 in the first innings (which was also his first century since the England tour four years earlier), he should have been caught twice before hitting a dolly to midwicket for 11 on that fateful fourth evening. With his departure it was clear that the team he was now captain had suffered six defeats in a row. With his predecessor, Babar Azam, carrying the batting line-up on this occasion, Masood will have no excuses if he fails to mount a fightback in the coming days.

Shoaib Bashirwho turned 21 on Sunday, has a bright future and quite an impressive recent past, with three five-wicket hauls in ten Tests already, including a match-winning performance against West Indies at Trent Bridge this summer. But the feeling that he is still a work in progress has been reinforced by his recent performances, particularly against Sri Lanka at The Oval and in the first Multan Test last week. In the first game he lacked control, in the second game he was clearly overwhelmed by his Somerset team-mate Jack Leach, ultimately with seven wickets to one. However, on a surface tailored to spin, he might be encouraged to deploy a more attacking sideline, having invariably drifted too straight towards the stumps in the first Test – partly, you suspect, as a defensive reflex in deeply inhospitable conditions. In any case, he can be grateful for Pakistan's policy in this competition, as otherwise he would have been the obvious man to pave the way for Stokes' return.

Team news: Pakistan name three spinners; Stokes returns

After Pakistan's catastrophic loss last week, change was inevitable… but perhaps not of this kind. First, the selection committee was turned on its head, with Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed and Azhar Ali joining a panel that now has 26 members as of August 2021. Then the bowling attack was halted, with Abrar falling ill and Shaheen and Naseem both dropped. Babar makes way in the middle order after 18 innings without a half-century – it's up to Kamran Ghulam to fill one of the bigger gaps imaginable – while the bowling attack is led by the hard-working Aamer Jamal and a trio of spinners. This includes legspinner Zahid, who took six wickets in 18.3 overs while making 115 runs in his last Test against England at this venue two years ago.

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

Stokes is the notable returnee for this second Test after undergoing lengthy rehabilitation following his hamstring injury in August. Although there were some reservations about deploying him as a frontline seamer in such inhospitable conditions, he has vowed to be “sensible” with his workload – and can at least rely on Leach as an in-form spinning option to provide the lion's share of the overs . With Matthew Potts replacing Atkinson, England's attack has the honor of fielding three fast bowlers from Durham, a prospect which Stokes said would be a “proud moment for the club”.

England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (Capt), 7 Jamie Smith (Week), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.

Pitch and Conditions: Spin for the Win?

Unless a leopard can change its spots, it is hard to see how Multan's strip of rolled mud can be turned into a spinner's paradise just a week after conceding the fourth-highest total ever in Test cricket. Still, it is a used surface – something common in white-ball cricket but virtually unheard of in Tests – and it should offer bowlers more, although how much more remains to be seen. Pace and momentum are likely to become scarce once the moisture in the surface has evaporated. After that, it's a question of what happens to the notable cracks from the first test.

Statistics and interesting facts

After his career best of 262 in the first Test, in which he overtook Alastair Cook as England's leading run-scorer, Root's average is above 51 for the first time in more than six years.
Another win this week would see Root move level with Shane Warne on 13 wins in Tests in Asia, the most of any visiting player in the region. Leach would move into second place on the same list with 11 wins in 14 Tests, ahead of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting.
Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub are yet to reach a double-figure partnership in eight attempts as Pakistan's opening pair. Their current average of 2.87 is by far the lowest of all regular partnerships in this role.
Warwickshire and England Under-19 legspinner Tazeem Ali bowled in the nets on these two days of training while on holiday in the country.

Quotes

“Our instruction to the curator for the first Test was that the ball should turn after the second day. But the playing field didn't change until the fifth day. Hopefully the ball starts turning on day nine.”
Pakistani assistant coach, Azhar Mahmoodexplains the reasons for reusing the same Multan surface

“Of course I have to be sensible. Playing on a used wicket made the decision a little easier… but I'm available to bowl and when I feel the time is right for me to come on and make a difference then I'll be there. “I'll have no doubts have it.
Ben StokesEngland captain is ready to return as a bowler after tearing his hamstring

Andrew Miller is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

PAK vs. ENG 2024/25, preview of the 2nd test match of PAK vs. ENG

ByVanessa

Big picture: Rip up the script and do it again

Form Guide

In the spotlight: Shan Masood and Shoaib Bashir

Team news: Pakistan name three spinners; Stokes returns

Pitch and Conditions: Spin for the Win?

Statistics and interesting facts

Quotes

By Vanessa

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