Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test Match Preview, Prediction and Live Streaming

We don’t have a name for that. We don’t even know if it can be called an approach. But Pakistan, at least for this Test match, have decided to do things in a new way. Yes, new way. It is not one of the regular ‘new ways’ Pakistan cricket introduces every few weeks. This one is insanely mind-blowing even by Pakistan’s standards. The defeat at England’s hands during the first Test game was what triggered the launch of this mission.

The board sacked the selection committee the very next day, materialized a new committee out of thin air, announced that they would be using the same strip as last time, and as a final stunt, dropped Babar Azam along with the main pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. All this without giving anyone the chance to comprehend what had happened.

The subtleties of this entire ordeal could only have been performed by Pakistan. Yet no one, in their wildest imagination, had pictured Pakistan going full Pakistan, all at once, without any warning. But this Test match will decide how long PCB would fancy sticking with this mission. England are licking their lips at the plethora of opportunities that have fallen into their lap. A pitch that offers plenty of runs, an opposition light on pacers, without its best batter, and the return of their captain.

Team Overview:

For England, the return of Ben Stokes means two things. One, they get their captain back. Second, retiring from captaincy duties might get Ollie Pope on the track once again. Stokes was also seen bowling in nets which signals his potential comeback as a bowler during the game as well. While Ben Stokes did confess that the re-use of the same strip was a shock to him, the English team has not, seemingly, succumbed to the shock. The pitch was dried using industrial-sized fans to bring out its inner Galle-ish nature. But England know better than to trust the pitch curation here. Hence, the slotting in of two pacers and as many spinners to tackle whatever conditions the Multan pitch decides to channel.

Besides Babar, Naseem, and Shaheen, Abrar Ahmed will also sit this game out. But Pakistan are currently raking in spin options. So much so that even without their main spinner, the team will field three specialist spinners and one spin all-rounder. The pace responsibilities will rest solely on Aamer Jamal’s shoulders. The batting lineup will remain the same except for Babar getting replaced with Kamran Ghulam. Even though he boasts a good domestic record, Kamran will need to jump above his weight to fill the void that Babar’s absence has created.

Head-to-Head Matches:

England and Pakistan have played 90 Test matches against each other, with Pakistan winning 21 games and England dominating the men in green in 30. The remaining 39 games concluded with no result.

Weather and Pitch Report:

Re-using the same strip means that the pitch will not be as flat as it was during the last game. The logical inference would be that spinners will hold sway on a used and dried pitch but for some reason, this is not as satisfactory an answer. The flat nature can not be entirely thrown out of the window, no matter what size of fans are used to metamorphose it.

The weather will remain free of any rain threats. There is a streak of cold in Multan air now, but most parts of the days will remain scorching, much to England’s displeasure