Pakistan and England are all set for the long awaited series of 2016 starting from the 14th of July. A series comprising 4 Tests, 5 ODIs and a T20I, a huge onus will be on Pakistan to at least show some drift and hard resistance in the longest format of the game, given their 3rd place in Test rankings and having won 5 out of last 6 tests vs England, well in the UAE, but everyone is known for feeling at home at home, while struggling abroad.
Pakistan’s last two tours of England for tests ended up in rather a hopeless and what you call the offenders, a criminal way. The 2006 tour, infamous for the Inzamam-led forfeited test, saw some great performances from Pakistani batting line-up, with Mohammad Yousaf leading the way with a double century at Lord’s and a 192 at Leeds. Younis Khan also got some big runs then with a 173 at Leeds. And to critics’ surprise, Mohammad Hafeez also has a 95 at Oval in his only innings in the series. Pakistan bowling was rather below the expectation-line. Only test Pakistan was about to win ended up being forfeited. The 2010 tour, probably the worst summer Pakistan team have ever had, saw three bright talents serving time, Mohammad Aamir has found a way back after almost six years, and has done quite well in limited overs. Lord’s test will be his first since comeback, and he will get to restart his test venture from exactly the same venue it paused.
On paper, Pakistan has the most stable test squad ever, with top seven batsmen really sure of their positions and their respective loads, a thing which has never been stable when it comes to Pakistan batting. Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Shan Masood look rather vulnerable, with former’s poor track record against pace in swing conditions. Followed by Azhar Ali at 3, Younis Khan at 4, Misbah ul Haq at 5, Asad Shafiq at 6 and Sarfraz Ahmed at 7, middle and lower order looks formidable, and incredibly stable and predictable. Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed are good and adept when it comes to playing with the tail enders, and have some good innings to their names playing with bowlers. Bowling will surely be led by Aamir with Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan and Ehsan Adil in supporting roles. Bowling doesn’t seem to worry much, as usual, it’s the batting Pakistan will need to be careful of. Out of the current lot, only Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq have centuries in swing, seaming and bouncy tracks. Younis has a century everywhere except Australia, and Asad has a century versus SA in SA. Misbah, Hafeez and Azhar Ali are only confined to 90s.
England on the other hand, look good. They just nullified Sri Lanka in all departments, and all formats of the game. They won the tests 2-0, ODIs 3-0, and the only T20I 1-0. Their batting looks shaky, with the lower order mainly comprising Johnny Bairstow and Moeen ‘Mo’ Ali doing most of the work. There were top order collapses vs SL but everytime the lower order just drove them out of deep waters. England bowling always feel at home, at home. Jimmy Anderson will be out of the first tests with injury but will be a constant threat in the remaining series. Stuart Broad always bowls good at home, and produces a super spell at least once in every series. Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes will feature in supporting cast.
Players to watch out for:
Mohammad Aamir will be a sure threat to England on his test comeback. Having already won his fans back with his cool performances on his limited overs comeback, he surely will be pumped up to restart his test career in a super way.
Pakistan will need to be aware of the threat Joe Root becomes when he gets going. There is no stopping him when he starts middling the red ball. He is one of the future legends of the game alongside Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson and Pakistan should not be giving him easy chances to score big.
Pakistan always bowl well. Batting is unpredictably stable. England always bowl good at home, but their batting looks shaky. It should be an exciting series, and hopefully will end in good and clean returns for Pakistan, and won’t bring another ball tempering or spot fixing charges.
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