Saud Shakeel feels that Pakistan can use England's forte against them in the forthcoming Test series at home to taste success. Pakistan's vice-captain feels that England's ultra-aggressive approach in Tests can be used against them by their bowling attack to pick quick wickets and push them on the back foot.
"England always play attacking cricket, and that always gives you an opportunity to induce mistakes in them, and to use their mistakes to stay in the game," Shakeel was quoted as saying during a press conference in Multan.
Shakeel also took a trip down memory lane and reflected on England's Test tour of Pakistan in 2022. While the visitors had blanked the hosts 3-0 in the three-match series, Shakeel reckoned that Pakistan were close to winning the contests.
"The last series we played against England, there were times we were quite close to winning, such as Rawalpindi and Multan, but we couldn't finish it off," he added.
Shakeel admitted that the Pakistan batters have been "unable to convert starts into huge scores" and it is a "point of concern". However, he mentioned that the team doesn't want to dwell too much on the past events and instead wants to focus on the task at hand.
"We're struggling with the bat from time to time, and unable to convert starts into huge scores," Shakeel mentioned. "That's a point of concern. The series that's over is now in the past. Admittedly we didn't play well there. Our focus is on what's ahead.
"But we don't follow any particular style playing cricket, we play according to the requirement of any situation, which gives us flexibility."
Shakeel, 29, also revealed that Pakistan will forge a game plan depending on how England play.
"The strategy is often decided on the spot depending on how England play," Shakeel said. "Reverse swing may also come into play depending on the weather and the pitch (that is) prepared. If a team is being aggressive, it can be easy to get sucked into their style of play and over-attack. If they're attacking, and we just let them make their mistakes, that might work out better for us."
