CAN ENGLAND DO IT?
The England Cricket team is ranked no. 1 in tests, and they have recently beaten the world champions, India, very comprehensively. They whitewashed the men in blue 4-0, and would be looking to carry forward the momentum in the upcoming test series against Pakistan, due to be held in UAE in the latter half of January. The team will be riding high on confidence as they are ranked no. 1 and have some of the best players in the world in their team.
But defeating Pakistan won’t be an easy task as they are just fresh from thumping series victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They will be looking to continue their spectacular run in the upcoming series as well. Being the underdogs in the competition can be to their advantage, as they can play without the added pressure of expectations. The same isn’t true of the English side. Being the best cricket team in the world, according to the ICC rankings, comes with its share of niggles. Every time the team goes out to play a match, the whole world expects them to win. This added expectation creates a tremendous amount of pressure on the players as well as the team management.
The pitches in UAE are expected to be similar to the ones in Pakistan, so the men in green have that added advantage as well. The sides, however, are very evenly matched in all departments. In the pace department, Pakistan have the likes of Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz while England can boast of young talent like Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
The Pakistan spin department will be headed by Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal while their English counterparts are Graeme Swann. The batting lineup for the Pakistan side consists of Misbah-ul Haq, Younis Khan and Umar Akmal while the England batting lineup consists of Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell among others. This promises to be a mouth-watering competition