England crushed Pakistan by 330 runs in the second test match at Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium on Monday. Former Test player Shoaib Mohammad has called for at least two changes in the side for the third Test at Edgbaston.
Shoaib, who has worked as a selector and fielding coach for Pakistan, said it is important for Pakistan to ring the changes, pointing out Shaan Masood and Wahab Riaz as the ones who should be rested for the all-important third Test, local media reported.
“England isn’t an easy place for the top-order and their failure was kind of expected,” Shoaib told to local media “You can see that England have worked out each and every player of Pakistan and youngster Shaan is finding it hard, so I feel that he should make room for Sami Aslam but they should still stick with Hafeez. The reason I would persist with Hafeez is that he can produce a good knock or two in the remaining two Tests.”
“As for Azhar and Younus, I would say that they have looked edgy but they are also capable of bouncing back after these failures and they have shown that in their careers,” he said.
Shoaib said everyone was thinking it was the army’s boot camp which allowed Pakistan to win the first Test; which was the wrong sort of mentality. “Pakistan won at Lord’s because of the team’s skills and the fact that England played poor shots, not because of the fitness camp,” he said. “These fitness camps are good but nothing can replace your skill set.”
Misbah in Lord's Test he proved that age was just a meaningless number. However in second Test match Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has disappointed and said his side had been outplayed.
"Maybe there was a bit of tiredness after he bowled a lot of overs in the previous Test," Misbah said. "But there was a big difference in this match compared to the previous one. He could not really bowl with that control and consistency. "They played him well. And there wasn't much help for him from the surface on the first two days. They were two good players facing him and it is totally different when there are runs on the board. It creates pressure. But we know he is a strong character and before the next Test he will definitely analyse what went wrong."
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