England captain Ben Stokes steals the spotlight as Pakistan plunder runs and spinners do late damage in crucial Test | Cricket News

Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain questioned key decisions made by England captain Ben Stokes after Pakistan took control of the series-deciding third Test.

England have a mountain to climb in Rawalpindi after the Pakistan spinners suffered another first-class collapse, finding themselves 24-3 in the second innings – still 53 runs behind – at stumps on the second day.

A defiant century from Saud Shakeel – who appeared alongside tail-enders Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in stands of 88 and 72 – changed Pakistan's fortunes as they secured an improbable first-innings lead of 77 with a score of 177-7.

In response, England lost their top three in just nine overs before stumps as Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope fell, but for Hussain, just as much damage was done on the field with ball in hand.

“I think Stokes did it [miss a trick],” said former England captain Hussain Sky Sports Cricket. “If you listen to the hype around the pitch yesterday, it was a really difficult pitch where you could only hit certain shots.”

“I think Stokes and England had it in their heads that they would have their catchers [in close] and stop the borders. If Pakistan got one or two then they wouldn't escape them and eventually there would be a ball with their name on it.

“What surprised me was not the fact that Stokes was putting men out, he has done that on several occasions, but that he was not putting men out when Saud Shakeel beat them by one.”

“Stokes didn't move the players up and didn't tempt the batsman to hit over the top and fair play to Saud Shakeel, he said if you are willing to offer me freebie runs I will take them and he took further.” and to take her.

“Maybe Stokes needs a little help”

A three-wicket burst from leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed before lunch gave England hope of gaining a sizeable lead in the first innings.

Stokes did not turn to Ahmed for the first eight overs of the afternoon session, a decision that allowed the familiar scenario of struggling against the tail to unfold as the spotlight turned to the England captain.

“England’s struggles against the tail were repeating,” Hussain added. “It's not just today or in this series, but over the last two or three years they've struggled to get through the bottom.

“Even when England had pace, I think they lost track a little bit and just went for a bouncer trick. I’m not talking about that here.” [in Rawalpindi] under those conditions, but even if they had Mark Wood.

“Sometimes they bowl beautifully up to the top order and as soon as the final ball comes in, it's straight away the rebounds and they get hit all over the place. You lose track a little bit.”

“Stokes might put so much energy into his captaincy, into the week of his captaincy, that he might just need a bit of help when England are seven or eight behind.”

“There aren't many experienced bowlers on this side, so maybe he just needs someone to pull him aside and explain his reasoning.”

“I was surprised that Rehan Ahmed didn’t start after lunch. A wrist spinner who had just reached 3-0 before lunch. I would have gone with the wrist spinner against the lower order.”

“England is not out of the game”

Former England captain Michael Atherton admitted Pakistan were ahead after two days of play but said Shakeel's knock gave the tourists hope that Joe Root and Harry Brook could find the runs they needed to get back into contention.

“England were very grateful when the umpires called the time because they were completely under pressure in what was a very difficult last few overs for them,” Atherton said.

“I wasn't sure if Crawley would survive while Pope is doing quite a horror rut on this tour. Duckett’s wicket was the really tough one, he’s such a good spin player.”

“Now their two main men on this tour, Root and Brook, are on the brink. You’re going to need a good start in the morning to get out of this hole.”

“England is not out of the game. Pakistan holds all the cards, Pakistan is in a very strong position and England is in a fix. But you can't come out on the third day of a Test and think you have no chance of winning the game.

“England need to think about how they put themselves in a position to win the game and they can do that by getting the head down from Root and Brook, who put on 454 runs in the first Test in Multan.” Through the new Ball, get the ball old and soft and hit like Saud Shakeel showed you can hit on this surface.

First test: Multan – 7th-11th October – England won by an innings and 47 runs

Second test: Multan – 15th-19th October – Pakistan won by 152 runs

Third test: Rawalpindi – 24-28 October

Watch day three of the third Test between Pakistan and England in Rawalpindi, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.30am on Saturday, pre-match from 5.43am. Stream with NOW