England’s whitewash win over Pakistan on the subcontinent in 2022 truly announced the new era under the stewardship of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.
The visitors were dominant on that occasion and after a Test summer in which they won five and lost only one of their six games against the West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively, they will be looking to carry that over into their away form.
With the Ashes in Australia looming next year, England will have to prove that they are equally as effective on their travels.
They take on a Pakistan side that have struggled mightily recently, winning just three of their last 17 Tests.
The home team have also been rocked by Babar Azam stepping down as their white-ball captain this week and will have to recover to take on this England team, with the first of three Tests between these two starting in Multan on Monday.
- ENGLAND TO WIN
- HARRY BROOK TOP ENGLAND SERIES RUN SCORER
- JACK LEACH TOP ENGLAND SERIES WICKET TAKER
- MOHAMMAD RIZWAN TOP PAKISTAN SERIES RUN SCORER
Back England To Win Away
England dominated the last time that these two sides met in Test cricket and in fact, their recent record against the hosts is rock-solid.
Pakistan are winless in the last seven Test head-to-heads between these two and their recent record in general leaves plenty to be desired.
Not only have they won just three of their last 17 Tests, they are winless in their last 10 home Test matches, with their last victory coming over three years ago in February 2021.
England will be able to welcome back the injured duo of Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes, who missed the majority of the summer.
On top of that, some of the fresh talent that the visitors brought into the squad for those games stood out, in particular Gus Atkinson and wicket keeper Jamie Smith.
Atkinson took 35 wickets in six games and made a century while Smith averaged 48.70 across the summer campaign.
After the retirement of James Anderson and Stuart Broad it is reasonable to have question marks about England’s pace attack but they should opt for Atkinson and one of Olly Stone or Brydon Carse, who made an impression in the recent white-ball series against Australia
Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir should relish the spinning conditions and Leach in particular has had a strong summer.
Pakistan’s bowling attack has plenty of answers to come up with of its own after allowing Bangladesh a second innings total of 565 in the first Test of their recent series.
They have fallen to eighth in the Test rankings, their lowest position since 1965.
To add to that, star batsman Babar Azam resigned as white-ball captain this week, leading to the sense of uncertainty and lack of direction around the side.
England should be able to capitalise on that with a success in this three-game series.
ENGLAND TO WIN SERIES
Brook To Star Once Again
Harry Brook starred in the last tour of Pakistan, making three centuries in three games. Those performances cemented him as a key part of this England side for years to come and he recently had a spell as the team’s white-ball captain, showing how he has developed into a crucial element of this team.
After some solid if unspectacular performances in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Brook slowly grew into the summer and made some impressive knocks in the one-day international series against Australia.
The 25-year-old amassed totals of 110 not out, 87 and 72 in the last three games of that series so arrives in Multan, where he made a century in 2022, in good form.
Side with the batter to be England’s top run scorer in this series.
HARRY BROOK TOP ENGLAND SERIES RUN SCORER
Leach In Fine Form
Jack Leach has not played a great deal of cricket for England in recent times as Shoaib Bashir appears to have moved above him in the spin department pecking order but he remains an important figure whenever they play in the subcontinent.
The Somerset bowler was a crucial cog in his county’s title charge domestically this summer and despite his team falling short in the race to catch dominant Surrey, there was not much more that Leach could have done.
He took 45 wickets in just nine matches at an average of 22.7 and he could carry that form over into this tour.
With Gus Atkinson the only pace bowler nailed on to start for the visitors, it looks like a sensible play to side with one of the spinners and Leach’s successful summer makes him a prime candidate to be England’s top wicket taker, particularly with conditions set to suit the spin bowlers.
JACK LEACH TOP ENGLAND SERIES WICKET TAKER
Rizwan Overpriced
There has been little for Pakistan fans to be pleased with in regards to their Test team in recent times but Mohammad Rizwan put in some impressive performances in their last two-game series against Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper made scores of 171 not out, 51, 43 and 29 in the four innings against those opponents and he could star once more against England.
With Babar Azam likely to be distracted by the fallout from him giving up his title as captain of his nation’s white-ball team, the short-priced favourite looks worth taking on in this market.
Rizwan is more known for his exploits in T20 cricket but the crossover skills between the two formats are becoming ever more apparent and he may well be too big a price to be the home team’s top run scorer in this series.
MOHAMMAD RIZWAN TOP PAKISTAN SERIES RUN SCORER
