Kamran Ghulam Came in For Babar Azam...: Ex-England Captain Michael Atherton During Test vs Pakistan

Pak vs Eng: Kamran Ghulam replaced Babar Azam and in his debut he has been unstoppable. Replacing Babar, Ghulam did not disappoint in the second Test at Multan on Tuesday as he has already brought up his fifty and looks good for more - ideally a century. Ghulam's fifty was laced with three boundaries and a six. His knock up until now has been chanceless. Lavishing praise on Ghulam, former England captain Michael Atherton claimed that the Pakistani knows he has to score runs to survive. 

“Kamran Ghulam came in for Babar Azam , and it would have added more pressure. Kamran knows he has to score runs because at some stage, Babar will come back into the team,” Atherton said during live commentary. 

Having won a crucial toss, Pakistan will be eyeing a good first innings total. England have been disciplined and expect Ben Stokes to try something funky every now and then. At the time of filing the copy, Pakistan were in a commanding position at 145 for two. Saim Ayub is on 62*, while Ghulam is batting on 68*. 

PAK vs ENG Playing XI

Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

England Still Fancy Berth in WTC 2025 Final

In their home conditions, England have been absolutely ruthless and haven't let anybody dominate them. But their problems began when they faced India in India, earlier this year. The India vs England series was highly awaited due to England's change in approach of perceiving Test cricket, but their hopes took a massive hit as India defeated them 4-1.

England have played 18 games so far in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. Now, there has been a lot of hue and cry about how they have dominated the purest format of the game, but the results don't show it. Stokes and Co. have only won 10 games and have lost 8. Now England have only four Test matches left and they are all away games. England have two Test matches to be played against Pakistan and two to be played against New Zealand.