Pakistan looked in complete control of the first Test, with all their batsmen and bowlers shining at Lord's, helping the visitors take 1-0 lead in the four-match series. England will be hurt with that result. The hosts will be keen to draw the series level when the two nations face one another in the second Test in Manchester on Thursday.
England have already made some changes in the team, bringing in key bowler James Anderson, who missed first Test due to an injury. Along with Anderson, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid were also added to the squad. With Anderson in the squad, England will possess a strong opening ball pair alongside Stuart Broad.
Anderson and Stokes are set to feature in the second Test, and Rashid may also play, but it depends if England are willing to drop Moeen Ali, who also adds batting value in their team.
Pakistan, on the other hand, have no reason to change a winning combination, though, they will need some of their players to stand up, and contribute more in second Test. Pakistan's top order has to provide a better start to England, and with Anderson's return, their task is not going to be any easy. Skipper Misbah-Ul-Haq started the series with a century, and he will want a similar performance from rest of his team mates.
It is the bowling unit of Pakistan, which looked lethal in the first Test, dismissing England for 272 and 207 runs in first and second innings respectively. Yasir Shah was at his magical best, picking up 10 wickets in the match. Misbah does not want to rely on his leggie alone, and wants rest of the bowlers including Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz to deliver in the second Test. England will have plans to tackle Shah, and Misbah feels the need of having other plans as well.
"It doesn't matter which ground we play on. If a bowler is really good he can produce results anywhere. He bowled beautifully at Lord's but everyone will need to bowl well again, not just Yasir. All four need to step up," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Misbah as saying.
"It's all about how you apply yourself, overcome mistakes of previous Test. Every game is new, wicket different, you have to adjust and that could sometimes be a challenge when you're a little bit down and short on confidence, but international players can do that. We have to be ready for that. If they play Yasir well we should have other plans."
The problem with England batsmen was their failure to convert their starts into meaningful scores in the first Test. Most of the batsmen, after getting their eye-in, lost their wickets after scoring 30 or 40-odd runs. Besides skipper Alastair Cook's 124-ball 81 runs in the first innings, there was nothing much to write home about the England batsmen. But with the inclusion of all-rounder Stokes, their batting will look even more strong.
They have a long batting order as well. Chris Woakes is also decent batsman, as he showed in the first test scoring 35 and 23 runs. However, England need to come up with a combined bowling effort to trouble the confident Pakistan side, who will be keen to take 2-0 lead in the series.
Where to watch live
The first Test match between England and Pakistan in Manchester is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. local time (3:30 p.m. IST and 6:00 a.m. EST).
The live coverage of England vs Pakistan second Test match in India will be on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD 1. The live streaming option will be available on Starsports.com.
UK viewers can tune into Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD 2 to watch England vs Pakistan 2nd Test live. Watch Sky Sports will stream the match live in UK as well.
Audience in the US can switch to ESPN3 for the live coverage of England vs Pakistan 2nd Test and stream the same on Watch ESPN.
FoxSports will broadcast England vs Pakistan 2nd Test match live in Australia., and live streaming on Foxtel Play.
