Pakistan’s vice-captain Saud Shakeel has revealed his team’s strategy for their upcoming Test series against England, echoing the sentiments of head coach Jason Gillespie. Shakeel believes that Pakistan can exploit England’s aggressive approach to induce mistakes and gain an advantage.
“England always play attacking cricket, which gives us an opportunity to induce mistakes in them and use those mistakes to stay in the game,” Shakeel said at a press conference in Multan.
Pakistan will draw inspiration from their previous series against England in 2022, despite losing 3-0. Shakeel, who was Pakistan’s second-highest scorer in that series, believes his team came close to winning on several occasions.
“The last series we played against England, there were times we were quite close to winning, such as Rawalpindi and Multan, but we couldn’t finish it off,” Shakeel said.
In Multan, where the first Test starts on Monday, Pakistan pushed England to the brink. Needing 355 for victory in the fourth innings, Pakistan were well-placed at 290 with half the side still to bat, and Shakeel on 94. However, two wickets from Mark Wood on the stroke of lunch ended Pakistan’s resistance, with England ultimately edging to a 26-run victory.
Shakeel acknowledges that Pakistan’s recent struggles with both bat and ball, as exposed by Bangladesh, make executing their plan far from guaranteed.
“We’re struggling with the bat from time to time, and unable to convert starts into huge scores,” Shakeel said. “That’s a point of concern. The series that’s over is now in the past. Admittedly we didn’t play well there. Our focus is on what’s ahead.”
Despite the challenges, Shakeel believes Pakistan’s flexibility and ability to adapt to different situations will be key.
“We don’t follow any particular style playing cricket, we play according to the requirement of any situation, which gives us flexibility,” Shakeel said.
Gillespie has also emphasized the importance of discipline and patience in Pakistan’s approach.
“The strategy is often decided on the spot depending on how England play,” Shakeel said. “Reverse swing may also come into play depending on the weather and the pitch [that is] prepared. If a team is being aggressive, it can be easy to get sucked into their style of play and over-attack. If they’re attacking, and we just let them make their mistakes, that might work out better for us.”
