Nasser Hussain, former England cricketer praised Pakistan for an incredible comeback that helped them win a series 2-1 at home against England. According to Hussain Pakistan found their “kryptonite” against the aggressive ‘Bazball’ form of cricket adopted by England. Again, England’s attacking approach proved seriously vulnerable, especially to spinners, as they were defeated by nine wickets in the third Test at Rawalpindi, which sealed the series for Pakistan.
Nasser Hussain Praises Pakistan’s Spinners
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hussain expressed his appreciation over the manner in which Pakistan had put right issues that cropped up in the previous matches especially with the loss of main players in dismissals Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. He mentioned that the spinners Pakistan had were of the best quality in the world. He pointed out that England’s players fared very poorly in both batting and bowling in the spin-friendly conditions.
“Congratulations to Pakistan for making that change, they lost six Tests in a row, the fans and supporters were not happy. Different pitches and selectors and they found the kryptonite to Bazball,” said Nasser.
“They have spinners of the highest quality and they have players that play spin really well. It is exposed to England when the ball does spin. When it spins and it is gripping, England does not play spin or bowl spin as good as Pakistan,” he added.
Discrepancy In England’s Side?
“There should be a discrepancy because the pitches have been so different from the first Test to the second and third. There is no doubt that scores should go down and spinners should go up. But, the discrepancy in the England side is a concern,” said Hussain.
“It should not be so drastic that you play so well on flat pitches and you can hit through the line but the moment it grips you cannot play like that and so then you are lost,” he added.
Pakistan Clearly Dominant Against England
England was thrashed by Pakistan, as Saud Shakeel hit an excellent century and went on to further score 134 runs off 223 balls. Other important contributions were of Noman and Sajid who scored 45 and 48 runs respectively.
Even though Rehan Ahmed (4 wickets) and Shoaib Bashir (3 wickets) tried to keep England in the game but at the end their efforts went in vain. Sajid and Noman brought a storm that completely crumbled England’s batting lineup. Sajid took 4 wickets and Noman picked 6, the duo emerged as the star bowlers for Pakistan.