Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that Pakistan “found the kryptonite to Bazball” during their series triumph over England, and named the one star whose place should be under threat.
England suffered a nine-wicket defeat before lunch on the third day of the deciding Test, having been bowled out for 112.
Pakistan secured victory in just 19 balls, with a spectacular six from captain Shan Masood sealing the win.
This came after England’s massive score of 823 for seven declared on a flat pitch in the opening Test in Multan, only to struggle on spinning pitches in the final two Tests of the series.
And Sky Sports pundit Hussain praised Pakistan: “Congratulations to Pakistan for making that change. You felt they needed to – they lost six Tests in a row, Shan Masood himself had lost all six as captain, they were going nowhere, the fans and supporters were not happy.
“So they made a real, drastic change, new selectors, different pitches completely as in they used the Multan pitch again, complete turner, came here, made it turn and they found the kryptonite to Bazball.
“They have spinners of the highest quality. And they have players that play spin really well. So why wouldn’t you play on turning pitches? And what it’s done is it’s exposed England when the ball does spin. When it spins and when it’s gripping, England don’t play spin as well or bowl spin as well as Pakistan.”
Hussain also expressed concern over England’s performance throughout the series.
“Because the pitches have been so different from the first Test to the second and third, there’s no doubting scores should go down and spinners should go up”, he added.
“But the discrepancy with England is a concern, it shouldn’t be so drastic that you play so well on flat pitches and you can hit through the line, and the moment it then grips you can’t play like that, so you’re then a little bit lost. Three of your top six seem to be lost in those conditions.”
Hussain also raised concerns that England’s focus on winning the Ashes in Australia might have affected their performance against Pakistan.
He continued: “All you ever hear about is the Ashes, the Ashes away. We play so many series away before the Ashes, the conditions here are so different from Australia.
“So even someone like Zak Crawley, Zak’s position should come under threat, but when I say that people say ‘he’ll be alright in Australia’.
“That doesn’t matter here this month, how’re you going to play this month?.
“It can’t all be about one series every four years away from home. You’re almost not taking Pakistan or India seriously, you’ve got to be across the board.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk