Paul Collingwood maintained that England had not lost hope of defeating Pakistan, even though they ended the third day of the second Test on a nearly exhausted pitch at 36 for two, still 261 runs away from a challenging target. "We'll still have belief," the assistant coach stated. "It'll be a tough chase, but we've got to be realistic – it's a difficult task." England's pursuit began poorly, with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley both dismissed within the first four overs. Their only real source of optimism is the ease with which Salman Agha scored 63 runs late in the innings as Pakistan reached 221 in their second innings.

"We've got to be realistic, it's going to be a tough chase on what is essentially the ninth day this pitch has been played on," Collingwood said. "But this team is capable of extraordinary things, and it has batters who can put bowlers under pressure in these conditions. We all know that if you get on a roll and build a partnership, anything can happen." Collingwood noted that winning this match would be an even greater achievement than last week's record-breaking victory in the opening Test, which was played on the same Multan pitch. "I think it would, given the circumstances and conditions we've faced," he said. "The amazing thing is there's still hope, and that hope exists because of the incredible things these players have done in the past. We'll still have that belief."

However, England will not curb their aggressive instincts in a match situation that might cause some players to retreat. "The stats will tell you that when you're chasing on day four, if you just defend and don't try to pressure the bowler, you'll get caught by the close fielders," Collingwood said. "We will not deviate from our mantra. Our mantra is to absorb pressure when necessary but apply as much pressure as possible when the opportunity arises." It was Salman's 65-run partnership with the indomitable Sajid Khan that stretched England's chances of taking a 2-0 lead in the series from feasible to far-fetched, with Pakistan's selection gamble for this game – dropping several of their most renowned players and filling their team with spinners – seemingly set to pay off.

"I was thinking it would be hard because there were a lot of big changes," Salman said. "The way the new guys have come in, it's very good for Pakistan cricket. It will be huge [to win] because we haven't won a Test match at home in I don't know how many years. It will be a big deal for us and we will give it our all."