PAK vs ENG, 1st Test: The English cricket team, led by head coach Baz aka Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes displayed a dominant style of batting. This is McCullum and Stokes' first overseas assignment and oh boy! they have been magnificent as far as the batting is considered. The English team that was plagued with health issues on the eve of the Test match, came out and belted the Pakistan bowlers all over the park.
The term Bazball has gained a lot of recognition this year and England have shown why it is worth all the hype and praise. England scored their first hundred in the 14th over and certainly, made it feel like a T20 game. Their top three scored blistering hundreds and put England on the top. Their stalwart Joe Root certainly failed but youngster Harry Brook made up for him. Crawley, Poppe, Duckett, and Brook helped England amass a total of 506 runs at the end of day 1. After the events that unfolded on day 1, the Rawalpindi pitch has come under severe criticism. Fans and experts all across the globe have been extremely critical of the PCB and their mindset. After the day's play, when Brook came out for a press conference he did not mince words while addressing Pakistan's woes.
Brook said:
They were all bad balls. I just tried to put them away really. I was probably happier with that over with the six boundaries than the hundred.
After all the criticism that has been dished out for the Pakistan cricket board and especially how the pitch was curated, Ramiz Raja has come out and lauded the English players for their stellar display of batting. In the process, Raja took a dig at the trollers too.
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PCB chief Ramiz Raja said:
It was just brilliant batting. The only time Pakistan did not concede 30 runs in five minutes was the one they were taking DRS. It was fabulous, the best advertisement for how to nail a dull pitch with exciting batting.
Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar too has been extremely critical about how the pitch has been curated. Akhtar on his YouTube channel said that he backs the Pakistan bowlers and they are very gifted, work very hard, and are extremely talented. The former Pakistan speedster also said that the PCB and the management should be more careful while preparing Test surfaces.
