From the looks of it, Pakistan’s tour of England is a challenging affair.
The latter just finished bashing Sri Lanka 2-0, maintaining an undefeated home record since July 2014.
If a side of such quality is to be defeated, the success formula would have to stem from Pakistan’s primary strength — its bowling line up. The mild, English skies offer a great degree of swing, zip and bounce to the visitors.
In my opinion, all Pakistan needs to do is associate discipline and direction with its relatively young range of pacers, and the spectators could be in for a spicy contest.
First things first, puncturing England’s top order is a must to set the wheels in motion.
As of May last year, England’s top three have contributed 1690 runs in ten games at home, with more than half of them scored off Alastair Cook’s willow.
So, what do we do when we need early wickets? Simple — we leave it to Amir.
The 24-year-old’s incredible ability to swing the ball both ways at over 138 clicks, makes him a force to reckon with. More importantly, his consistent line just outside off-stump is tailored to get rid of England’s main gun, Alastair Cook, early on.
Amir dismissed Cook thrice during his 2010 dream tour, unveiling the batsman’s vulnerability to the one that swings away from middle. Similar strategies could be employed against Compton and Hales, who are most likely to accompany Cook in the top three.
Since these blokes have never faced Amir in a test before, Pakistan could definitely cash in on the new-ball artistry and venom of their top gun. Luckily for the visitors, Amir is no stranger to English wickets either.
Lords, Birmingham and Kennington Oval, were all part of his 19-wicket exhibition in 2010, where he averaged just 18.36.
Pakistan will be playing on all three of these venues in their forthcoming tour. Amir can acclimatise quickly to alien conditions, and provide early breakthroughs for the side.
The onus is then on Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali and Wahab Riaz to prolong the onslaught.
Sohail, who would most probably share the new ball with Amir, is an uncomplicated seam bowler with a passion for hitting the deck hard.
He has the knack of bowling a few straight deliveries, before getting one to dip in prodigiously towards the pads, from miles outside off.
For an English upper-middle order that loves to drive, the slip cordon should expect plenty of juicy chances while he is in operation.
Rahat Ali’s potential inclusion also affords Pakistan similar swing, topped with a side-on action that cuts across right-handed batsmen. Pakistan have played him very little since his debut against South Africa in February 2013, and therefore, have overlooked much of his utility.
His’s range of away swingers to England’s middle order — Root, Bairstow and Vince — would pave the way for one that holds its line. Getting behind the deviating ball in quick time is a challenge, and puts rival defenses to test.
Combine that tilt with Wahab’s steam, and both of them would come in handy versus Joe Root, who has been a match-saver for England of late. Two game-changing hundreds against Australia constitute his 730 runs since May 2015.
During the knocks, he demonstrated little weak-zones in his batting, save for “the spontaneous” short ball.
Mitchell Starc had the better of Root on multiple occasions after letting a short one rattle into his chest from middle.
Wahab Riaz’s hot love for the short ball, and that too at over 140 clicks, should make the task even easier; bread and butter folks.
Interestingly, as the game goes on, English pitches tend to get old and cracked. It is then that Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar appear as Pakistan’s trump cards.
Yasir’s vintage leg-spin gels in lethally with the wide cracks of a fourth day pitch, as witnessed during his fifteen wickets against England in November.
The same is true for Zulfiqar Babar, whose majestic exhibition of flight and turn was at par with Yasir, when routing England for 156 in Sharjah, the same month.
Thus, if Pakistan decide to go with either one of the spinners, chances of them snatching victory from the jaws of a draw, are pretty optimistic.
Ultimately, the visitors’ spin advantage over England, coupled with a multitude of pace talent, would be pivotal in going hard at the Poms this summer.
If aim meets consistency, Pakistan could limit England’s ambitions of scoring big, leaving little for its volatile batting line-up to accomplish.