Nasser Hussain believes Pakistan has found 'the kryptonite to Bazball' after England's humbling defeat in Rawalpindi, where they lost in just three days and by nine wickets, following a disastrous collapse that saw them lose their last seven wickets for only 49 runs.
With all 20 English wickets falling to spinners for the second consecutive game, Hussain, a former England captain, noted that the home team had 'exposed England when the ball spins' and showed that 'when it spins and grips, England don't play or bowl spin as well as Pakistan.'
Pakistan captain Shan Masood remarked, 'If you want to be one of the top teams in the world, you have to learn to play in all conditions.'
Ben Stokes acknowledged that Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who were brought into the Pakistan team for the last two games and together took 39 of the 40 English wickets, 'were obviously too good for our batting lineup,' and 'we got thrown challenges and we weren’t able to stand up to them.'
The England captain also admitted that the pitch, which was unorthodoxly prepared using rakes, patio heaters, and industrial fans, was not the cause of their failure, unlike the previous week's defeat in Multan, which occurred after they won the toss. 'In this game in particular, Pakistan just played better cricket for longer periods of time than we did,' he said.
Stokes discussed the challenge of facing 'high-quality bowlers who have grown up bowling on these types of surfaces … it’s something they’re very used to.' However, Masood pointed out that while it suited his players, it was no more familiar to them than to their opponents. 'We ourselves haven’t played on these wickets ever in Pakistan, in our Test grounds,' he said. 'So for us to come up with something with bat and ball and in the field and respond to conditions that were alien to us as well, that’s very heartening.'
England won a record-breaking first Test by an innings and 47 runs, but after Pakistan altered their side and pitches to prioritize spin, they lost the next two matches decisively. 'The way to assess the last two games is that we got thrown challenges, and we weren’t able to stand up to those challenges for long enough to get the results we wanted,' Stokes said. 'We did it for very small periods, but small periods in Test cricket isn’t long enough.'
England must move on quickly: they play the first game of a white-ball tour of West Indies on Thursday, and start a Test series in New Zealand – who on Sunday became the first side to win a series in India for 12 years – in just over a month. 'Whether you do well or not, you should always try to take the positives,' Stokes said. 'There have been some unbelievable individual performances throughout the series. A lot to take out. The only way is up.'
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