England's three-Test tour of Pakistan begins in Multan from October 7-11 - watch the first Test live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.30am Monday (first ball, 6.30am); second Test also in Multan from October 15-19, third Test in Rawalpindi from October 24-28
Sunday 6 October 2024 17:17, UK
After hitting "a new low" the Pakistan cricket team will be tested to their limit during the upcoming three-match Test series against a rampant and ruthless England attack, says Sky Sports' Urooj Mumtaz.
All three Tests against Brendon McCullum's red-ball side will be exclusively live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event, starting with the first in Multan from 5.30am Monday.
Pakistan have won three of their past 17 Tests with the latest defeat coming against Bangladesh, who won their series 2-0 for the first time in Rawalpindi in August 2024.
England, on the other hand, have sustained their assault in Test cricket, winning five of their last Test matches this summer. They will also arrive in the subcontinent with plenty of confidence having completed a historic 3-0 whitewash during their previous visit in 2022.
"It's been horrible, to say the least, and it started when England visited us in 2022 with Bazball, which caught Pakistan by surprise," said former Pakistan all-rounder Mumtaz on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
"From then on I fear Pakistan haven't been up to the mark with delivering the fundamentals correctly.
"I don't think Pakistan themselves understand what their strength is. Their bowling has been an issue, their batting lacks prowess and there's concerns about fitness. It's a new low.
"We just haven't evolved as a red-ball side, let alone trying to catch up to Bazball and what the other teams are doing."
Pakistan have not only been inconsistent on the field, but their management has also gone through a number of changes.
Since 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board has had three chairmen, two Test captains and six permanent or temporary head coaches, with former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie being the current.
And it's not only the red-ball team that has suffered.
Pakistan were knocked out of the 50-over World Cup last year during the group stages. It was the fifth time in the last six editions they have failed to reach the semi-finals.
They arrived at the 2024 T20 World Cup as runners-up at the previous tournament but were defeated by associates and co-hosts the USA in Texas.
"They have such a rich history where they've produced quality sides and done wonderful stuff," added Mumtaz.
"This is one new low to another and you feel for them.
"Gary [Kirsten, former South Africa batter and Pakistan's white-ball coach] is new in the role and there's a lot he has to deal with including different loose ends.
"It will take some time and there are good things that are being said about consistency, the brand of cricket they want to play and intent, but they need to figure out what that is.
"There's a lot of outside noise that has derailed Pakistan."
Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain added: "It's not how Pakistan usually are, they're unpredictable. They're mercurial Pakistan, up one day and down the next. Instead, in this phase, there is a lot of down."
Following Pakistan's poor Test record recently, they have fallen to eighth in the ICC Test rankings, their lowest position since 1965.
Some of their star players in quick bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and ex-captain Babar Azam have been unable to produce match-winning performances across all formats.
"Babar has been in a decline for a while now," added Mumtaz, speaking ahead of Babar's decision to step down as Pakistan's white-ball captain.
"There's so much expected of him and he sets the bar high but he seems to be struggling for runs.
"He needs to go back to the drawing board and give himself time to string some form together. I think a lot of it has to do with captaincy, non-captaincy and what happened at the World Cup.
"I don't think it's purely down to technique, there's more to it."
For all of their woes though, there are some glimmers of hope for Pakistan with Test captain Shan Masood hoping to implement a new attacking methodology.
"I think he [Shan Masood] is someone who is trying to bring about a change, reignite the flair with a new philosophy about playing the positive brand of cricket," added Mumtaz.
"He tries to emulate that as much as possible, he's trying to bring about a change, it all seems like doom and gloom at the moment.
"However, he still has to get results and score runs to show that. He needs to lead the team on all fronts."
Pakistan's Test captain Shan Masood said the players, the country and the board are all hurt from their recent results but he believes they have the chance to turn things around against England.
"It's not acceptable for Pakistan to not win a home Test for that long and we accept the responsibility for that," he said speaking to the media ahead of the series.
"It's a huge opportunity for us, it's the chance to turn things around.
"The players are hurt, we're all hurt. As a cricketing nation, as people that follow cricket, whether that's the media or fans, everyone is hurt right now.
"But we have a huge opportunity to turn this around against England and hopefully we can turn things around.
"[James] Anderson's not there, [Mark] Wood's not there but they've still 17 quality players that can play this game and there's been a lot of new upcoming players that will be really exciting to watch in the future.
"They've got a lot of experience, a lot of world-class players.
"It's really easy to change the team and the tactics when you lose but when we've made a promise to take this Test team and Pakistan cricket forward, then consistency and backing your players counts a lot."
England travel to Pakistan for a three-match Test series starting on October 7 with the first two Tests taking place in Multan before heading to Rawalpindi.
All three matches are exclusively live on Sky Sports.
First Test: Multan - October 7-11
Second Test: Multan - October 15-19
Third Test: Rawalpindi - October 24-28
Watch the first Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.30am Monday (first ball 6.30am).
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