Pakistan v England First Test preview: England look to keep momentum going after spectacular summer

Pakistan host England in a Test match for the first time in 17 years on Thursday morning in Rawalpindi.

Following England’s tour of Pakistan in a seven-match T20 series just before the World Cup, the two nations will now face off in a three-match Test series, just a few weeks after England beat their hosts in the T20 World Cup in Australia.

We preview all the action below.

Pakistan v England – Thursday 05:00

Much changed Test side for England

England are coming off the back of a revolutionary summer period for their Test team, winning five of their six matches with their newfound aggressive and dynamic approach. ‘Bazball’, as it’s been coined, has transformed the England style of Test cricket, epitomised especially by the appointment of Ben Stokes as captain.

These three matches against Pakistan will however be a more difficult challenge for Brendon McCullum and Stokes, representing their first away Test series under the new management. South Africa proved at Lords that there are plenty of chinks in England’s armour as they romped to an innings victory in August, demonstrating the tourists won’t always be able to slog themselves out of a hole when the going gets tough.

England will also be without a few key players for Thursday’s opener. Stuart Broad will miss the whole series for personal reasons, whilst Mark Wood remains sidelined by the injury that kept him out of the backend of the T20 World Cup. Jonny Bairstow, England’s player of the summer, will also miss out with his own long-term injury.

With Alex Lees also being dropped from the squad, that means a lot of places are up for grabs in this England side. Keaton Jennings is an excellent player of spin, of which there will be plenty on these sub-continent pitches, and may be in with a shout of opening the batting, whilst Ben Duckett displayed his class and array of shots in the white-ball tour of Pakistan in September. Also keep an eye out for Liam Livingstone to take the free-hitting number 5 role in Bairstow’s absence.

Needless to say, this will be a very different England Test team in terms of personnel to the most recent one that sealed their series win against South Africa at the Oval. With this in mind, England understandably find themselves as 9/4 underdogs for this series opener, although that price will certainly change depending on how the first couple of sessions play out.

Joe Root, also a brilliant player of spin, was exceptional throughout the summer, though somewhat tailed off in the latter stages of the South Africa series, and is the favourite to top-score in England’s first innings at 9/4. Ben Foakes looks good value at 14/1 to achieve the same feat, especially considering his positive returns in his last international trip to the subcontinent against Sri Lanka last year.

Jack Leach found some form of redemption with a brilliant display of spin bowling against New Zealand at Headingley in June and will be licking his lips at prospect of the dry Rawalpindi surfaces, and can be backed at 11/4 to claim the most wickets in the first innings. Veteran opening bowler James Anderson heads the market at 5/2.

Pakistan dangerous to discount

Pakistan have won and lost one each of their previous two Test series at home, which included a 1-0 loss to Australia and a convincing 2-0 victory over South Africa. Whilst their red-ball side may not pack as much of a punch as their explosive white-ball team, there are plenty of overlaps between the two squads that will keep England on their toes, and the home side start this match as 5/4 favourites.

Nobody characterises this more than captain Babar Azam, who is the only player in world cricket to be in the top three ICC batting or bowling rankings across all three formats. He will certainly be key to Pakistan posting an intimidating score against an England side who love to chase, and is 12/5 to top score for his team in the first innings. His opening partner for T20s, Mohammad Rizwan, also features for the Test side, but will bat lower in the middle order as the side’s wicket keeper.

Pakistan were dealt a blow when star bowler Shaheen Afridi suffered a long-term injury in the T20 World Cup final, meaning he will definitely miss all three matches in this series. With this in mind, keep an eye out on Pakistan’s other pace bowlers, notably Haris Rauf (11/4) and Naseem Shah (10/3), to claim the most scalps for the home side in the first innings.

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