Pakistan seems to be depending too much on Amir and Yasir and that might not augur too well for the tourists. The entire team will have to deliver if Pakistan are to have any chance of taming England
Pakistan’s busy schedule under new head coach Mickey Arthur has begun and in the first phase the team will play four Tests, five One-day Internationals and a T20 in England.
The series against England will be a real test for young Pakistani batsmen and bowlers. Hosts England’s morale is high as they recently won the Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0. But the Misbah-led Pakistan is a very strong side in the longest version of the game.
Misbah used to be criticised for his defensive strategy, but his winning streak has silenced all critics. His policy is "better to win by playing safe than attack and lose the game".
England have a strong batting line-up with Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow. They are all good on their soil, but still they don’t have much experience and depth as in the past due to which there is a good opportunity for the Pakistani bowlers, especially Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah, to beat them on their home ground. The last time Pakistan beat England in England was in 1996 when under the leadership of Wasim Akram the visitors beat Mike Atherton & company 2-0.
Man-of-the-Series leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed and fast bowler Waqar Younis were the heroes of the series with 17 and 16 wickets, respectively.
In the fast bowling department, England have an edge thanks to the presence of experienced James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both these fast bowlers use English conditions very well.
Anderson took 21 wickets, averaging just over 10 runs per wicket in the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
England Test captain Alastair Cook has said that his side is ready to take on Pakistan. He acknowledged that Pakistan had a very good bowling attack.
To beat England on their ground, Pakistan need to play fearless cricket. Aggression will be the key and that is what Mickey Arthur wants from the Pakistani players.
Arthur wants to encourage players to be brave in the ground and keep the opposition under pressure as aggression is the best defence.
"The challenge is to play well outside the UAE. Both fast and spin bowling is exciting, but the concern in the long format is batting outside our conditions as well as fitness and fielding, which will be a priority. We need to look at players who can serve for long, and we should allow them to make mistakes. It will help them improve and play what I call brave cricket. We have to strive to score runs, get people run out and get wickets. We have to play an exciting brand of cricket that stimulates both players and fans," Arthur says.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did everything to improve the performance of the team. After the appointment of Mickey Arthur, PCB appointed Mushtaq Ahmed as bowling coach, extended the contracts of batting coach Grant Flower and trainer Grant Luden for the England tour and finally PCB appointed former Australian wicket-keeper Steve Rixon as the fielding coach.
PCB took a bold step and arranged a fitness boot camp at Army School of Physical Training (ASPT) where Pakistani cricketers went through some tough fitness drills under the supervision of Army officers.
The battle-hardened duo of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan will be the backbone of Pakistan batting as other players don’t have much experience of English conditions and many players will tour England with Pakistan team first time.
People are mainly pinning their hopes on fast bowler Mohammad Amir and spinner Yasir Shah.
The role of Yasir Shah is very important as England’s players don’t have much experience of playing quality spinners.
Pakistan seems to be depending too much on Amir and Yasir and that might not augur too well for the tourists. The entire team will have to deliver if Pakistan are to have any chance of taming England.
The team’s last tour to England in 2010 was a nightmare. Pakistan not only lost the Test series but also lost three key players – skipper Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir over spot-fixing charges.
So far, 23 Test series have been played between the two countries. England have won nine of them. Pakistan have been successful on eight occasions.
Out of the 77 Test matches played, England won 22 and Pakistan emerged victorious in 18.
Pakistan’s 708 at The Oval in 1987 is the highest innings total in the bilateral Test cricket.
England’s 636-8 in Lahore in 2005 is their best score against Pakistan.
Pakistan’s 72 at Birmingham in 2010 and England’s 72 in 2012 at Abu Dhabi are the lowest Test innings totals.
Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is the most successful batsman with 1,584 runs in 19 Tests at an average of 54.62, including five hundreds and 10 half-centuries.
Former English captain David Gower is the highest scorer from England with 1,185 runs, scored at an average of 49.37 with the help of two centuries and nine fifties. Current captain Alastair Cook is ready to surpass Gower as he is just six runs behind him, with 1,179 runs in 14 Tests.
Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir is the most successful bowler with 82 wickets in 16 matches, at an average of 24.98.
Fast bowler James Anderson has taken 45 wickets against Pakistan at an average of just 17.06.