Pakistan will struggle in the Test series against England: Aaqib Javed

Former Pakistan Test cricketer and head coach of the PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars, Aaqib Javed, has said that Pakistan's squad for the upcoming Test series looks inexperienced and suggested they will struggle against England.

The former fast bowler lauded England's transformation into an ominous-looking side and predicted that Pakistan will face an uphill task in the three-match series against such a 'quality line-up':

"During the last one or two years England have really raised their game and the way they are playing cricket in all three formats is just remarkable. Pakistan will struggle in the Test series as they have quality line-up, They have world class fast bowlers in shape of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer as well as a match-winning all-rounder like Ben Stokes and also they have a fine Test batting line up."

Javed drew comparisons between the scoring rates of both the teams and and maintained that Pakistan will lag behind because of their old-fashioned approach, whereas, England will have the upper hand because they can not only score big but they do so rapidly.

“If Pakistan manage to play 125 overs we still may not score enough runs as compared to England who can smash a huge score in as many overs and can out play the opposition after that.”

Agreeing with his former teammate, Ramiz Raja, regarding Mohammad Abbas' decline, Javed said that the pacer has lost considerable pace over the last year or so and may not have the same impact as he did in 2018. He also pointed out that the saliva ban may make things tougher for the Pakistani pace battery.

“If we look at the Pakistan pace attack, it lacks experience and a bit of quality. Abbas is a experienced bowler but he has lost pace and it will affect his performance. Also, after ban of saliva, most of Pakistan fast bowlers will struggle as they mostly rely on reverse swing and take wickets with the old ball."

Speaking about the pace prodigy, Haris Rauf, whom Javed has directly mentored, he said that the fast bowler can do well in Test cricket, if given the opportunity, citing that Rauf has also done well in Grade Cricket in Australia not so long ago.

“He can do well in Tests if given a chance as he has pace which is required to topple batting line ups in a time of saliva ban and also he has aggression to surprise England team. Haris did well in Australia in Grade Cricket and later played first class matches too. So he has the credentials to do well in Tests and is also a very committed bowler who always wants to do well.”