If Pakistan are to instigate only England’s third Test defeat at Edgbaston in 12 matches and 15 years then much change is needed.
At Old Trafford they were brutally disposed of by a rampant England wounded by that first Test loss at Lord’s. The tourists lacked the same venom that their bowlers showed at the Home of Cricket and their batsmen’s woeful form was cruelly exposed by a bolstered England attack.
Alastair Cook and Joe Root made light work of the Pakistan pack, the latter’s 325 runs across both innings coming without alarm and left the opposition hapless in their attempts to stem the bleeding as they haemorrhaged runs.
The tourists cannot afford a repeat performance, knowing that defeat in Birmingham will end their hopes of a series triumph.
Coach Mickey Arthur explained this week that the team have set new plans for Root and Cook.
Something obviously needs to be done to stop England’s two premier batsmen and they remain keenly aware of England’s middle-order vulnerabilities with Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Ballance in dire need of runs to keep their place in the team.
But it is easier said than done and a turnaround in the form of Yasir Shah will need to be as sharp a spike upwards as it was down between the first two Tests.
The leg-spinner was utterly Jekyll and Hyde in those outings, his explosive return to Test cricket at Lord’s possibly exposing his international inexperience by the time he got to Manchester, as he bowled with childlike enthusiasm. Everything that left his hand was either too quick or too forced; expecting wickets rather than creating them with the same guile that has served him so well in his surprisingly short career with the national side.
Shah will have learnt from that experience and England should expect him to come back all guns blazing this time around. But while their bowlers suffered last time out, they remain more than capable of exposing England’s own weaknesses and in Shah, Mohamamd Amir, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali they have an attack that is used to getting the better of Cook’s men.
There has been some discussion that Sohail Khan could be brought into the fold but any changes to the bowling attack may be premature, unless there are any signs of raging spin and veteran tweaker Zulfiqar Babar is given the nod.
This will not be the case at Edgbaston, at least. Once again, the real problem is their batting.
Only captain Misbah-ul-Haq registered a half-century in that second Test mauling in Manchester, the rest of the team looking entirely at odds on a pitch that Pakistan batters made look a minefield, England’s a road.
Exciting young prospect Sami Aslam is expected to come in for James Anderson’s bunny Shan Masood. It is asking a lot of a 20-year-old with two Tests to his name to come in and make a significant difference but Pakistan’s batting order is in desperate need of freshening up, and Sami will surely play without fear or inhibition, keen to seize his moment on the big stage.
There can be cases made for any number of players to be culled.
'James Anderson has Shan Masood on toast' @MichaelVaughan
— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) July 25, 2016
The stats don't lie..... pic.twitter.com/RyO4KX3UvM
Opener Mohamamd Hafeez seems reluctant to build on starts – twice reaching the 40s before losing his wicket – Younis Khan is currently a jittery mess – his dismissal in the second innings at Old Trafford as he holed out to Moeen Ali particularly concerning, while Azhar Ali is struggling to get it off the square.
Arthur is not a coach afraid of shaking things up, something that has been an issue with Pakistan sides in the past.
History may not be in their favour when it comes to Edgbaston but much needed change elsewhere could be just the tonic for Pakistan cricket moving forward.
