‘Key Strategies for Pakistan to Win the Test Series Against England’, Insights from Former Cricketer Basit Ali

New Delhi: Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has advocated for Mohammad Rizwan to be appointed as the new Test captain of Pakistan. He believes that with Rizwan at the helm, the Men in Green have a good chance of beating England in their upcoming three-match home Test series. Ali's suggestion comes in light of the criticism faced by the Shan Masood-led side following their lackluster performances in the recently concluded two-match home Test series against Bangladesh, where Pakistan suffered a 2-0 whitewash, marking Bangladesh's maiden Test series victory over Pakistan.

“Pakistan will win the Test series against England if Mohammad Rizwan is made the captain. You will see a different Babar Azam in the England series, but the condition is that the captain should be Rizwan,” said Basit Ali.

It is worth mentioning that Shan Masood replaced Babar Azam as Pakistan’s Test skipper after the latter handed over captaincy following the team’s group-stage exit at the 2023 ODI World Cup. However, Masood had a dismal start to his stint, suffering five losses from as many matches.

Pakistan is currently lying at the penultimate position in the World Test Championship standings with 16 points and a percentage point of 19.05. They have a chance of making amends by turning things around against England next month.

Basit Ali also spoke about England’s ace batter Joe Root’s impressive form in Test cricket. He pointed out that the 33-year-old has performed well against Sri Lanka over the years.

“If he scores a century against Pakistan, I won’t spare the bowlers” – Basit Ali on Joe Root.

The former cricketer mentioned that while Root’s recent form has been hyped by the English media, the right-handed batter won’t be able to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of runs in Test cricket. Stating that the Pakistani bowlers would face his wrath if Root managed to hit a century in the forthcoming series.

“Joe Root has always performed against Sri Lanka. The English media have been saying that Root will break Sachin Tendulkar’s record. He won’t break that record. If he scores a century against Pakistan, I won’t spare the bowlers. Tendulkar’s stature is different, he was a very big player,” said Basit Ali.

In the last encounter Joe Root, performed underwhelmingly when England last toured Pakistan in 2022, he scored 125 runs across five innings at an average of 25.