Pakistan poised for victory owing to COVID-19 crisis in England camp - The Name Pakistan

Pakistan poised for victory owing to COVID-19 crisis in England camp

Let’s face it, England made the last ODI series with Sri Lanka a one-sided affair. Be it Joe Root and Eoin Morgan in batting, or David Willey, Chris Woakes, or Curran brothers in bowling, England outclassed the Lankans in every department.

But the invention of COVID cases within the English team and support staff has changed the scenario drastically. Englishmen seemed to be at the highest of their game but now a fresh side has been announced for the ODI series against Pakistan, with Ben Stoke as captain. the remainder of the squad consists of Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson, and James Vince.

England is usually considered a troublesome place to bat and bowl for sides from the sub-continent but the present situation presents a golden chance for Pakistani players to perform well and win a really important away series just before the T20 World Cup.

Historically speaking, Pakistan has played 48 one-day internationals in England against England and won 16. The Green Shirts lost 30 matches and two had 'no result'. Since 2010, Pakistan has won 5 out of 17 matches there and lost 11, with one match ending during a 'no result'.

If we see England’s overall performance within the 2020-21 season, they have played 15 ODI matches and won 7 with 2 no result matches. But thanks to the unfortunate incident of COVID cases these stats are almost irrelevant now. Pakistan, on the other hand, has won 4 out of 6 matches played during this point and because the English team lacks experienced, solid players, everyone expects the Green Shirts to defeat their rivals handsomely.

If we glance at the private performance meter, one should have high hopes from ICC ODI batting topper, Captain Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, placed at number 7. In England, Fakhar features a healthy average of 37 in 17 matches and Babar has 50 plus.

Imamul Haq also features a good 53+ average in England.

Mohammad Rizwan is in the great form then is Sohaib Maqsood. Both played wonderfully well within the recently concluded Pakistan Super League so that they must be feeling good about their batting prospects.

Haris Sohail is currently not participating in practice matches so one can't say anything about him needless to say.

Although we don’t have any bowler within the top 10 within the ICC ODI bowling list, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf look set to perform in the upcoming challenge. A fit and performing Shadab Khan is additionally very vital for the Pakistan team’s balance.

Will Pakistan use the expertise of Usman Qadir in any of the ODIs? that is still to be seen.

The new English lineup has only a few familiar faces on the international level. We all realize Jake Ball has played 18 ODIs and grabbed 21 wickets with a not-so-attractive average of 46. Danny Briggs and Craig Overton both have played 1 ODI each.

Saqib Mahmood has thus far played 4 ODIs, taking 5 wickets with the typical of 31. Ben Duckett and Dawid Malan have decent batting averages of 41 and 45 respectively in 3 ODIs. Matt Parkinson has just played 2 ODIs but James Vince has played 16 matches with the batting average of exactly 23.

With 830 and 775 runs respectively against Pakistan in ODIs, Morgan, and Root were the backbone of the English batting side, but unfortunately, they're not available for selection now. The absence of the experienced Bairstow, Roy, Curran brothers, Woakes, Moeen, Adil, and Wood may be a huge setback for the English team.

So beat all, with high hopes of winning, Pakistan must be a struggling team now.

The late replacement English side has nothing to lose. There was a reason for England to be at number 3 within the current ICC ODI team rankings but things have entirely changed, and although Pakistan has great potential, we are still at number 6.

Hopefully, we'll be ready to make some decent runs with an honest strike rate and obtain English wickets well within it.

All eyes are now at Cardiff, for the primary ODI on July 8.