"They get their runs so quickly that the bowlers are on and off the field so fast"- Nasser Hussain on England's concerns in 1st Pakistan Test
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has expressed concern for the side's bowlers and their downtime during the first Test against Pakistan. This comes in the wake of the batters scoring runs very quickly on Day 2 (October 8) of the first Test at Multan.
The English bowlers were made to toil hard on a flat track with little assistance for pacers and spinners. Pakistan scored a massive 556 in 149 overs in their first innings.
In response, England raced to 96/1 in 20 overs at stumps on the second day, trailing by 460 runs. With an emphasis on attacking batting over the last two years, ever since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes became coach and captain respectively, England have rarely played out time.
Hussain, however, feels the bowlers' endurance could be a concern in such hot conditions, should they have a quick turnaround. He said on Sky Sports after the second day's play:
"In this Bazball era, they get their runs so quickly that the bowlers are on and off the field so fast and they aren't having as much rest as they are used to have in previous times. It's something to keep an eye out in this heat. For England, they need to get as close as possible, and for Pakistan, just make sure you bowl England out and try to push on and win."
He added:
"The only thing I would say in this part of the world is be careful for two reasons. One, you can have two first innings that are very similar and then in your third innings you don't know whether to stick or twist. And two, in this part of the world, the game moves very, very slowly and then suddenly on day five it starts doing peculiar things off those cracks or it starts spinning."
"The key for England will be to get as close as possible and by doing that you give the bowlers a rest and the second time round, they have got the energy levels to bowl the opposition out."
The English team are coming off an excellent home summer, where they won five out of the six Tests against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Pakistan are on a five-Test losing streak, including an embarrassing 0-2 home series defeat to Bangladesh.
"Apart from 15 minutes either side of tea when England looked absolutely exhausted, I thought they did really well" - Nasser Hussain
![England bowlers toiled hard over the first two days of the Multan Test [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/10/0024a-17284058280398-1920.jpg?w=500)
Nasser Hussain commended the visitors' efforts over the first two days despite Pakistan racking up over 550 in their first innings, considering the nature of the Multan pitch.
"Apart from 15 minutes either side of tea when England looked absolutely exhausted, I thought they did really well. How can you say that when the opposition got 556 and there's three scores of hundreds in there? You have to look at how England have gone out to bat," said Hussain in the aforementioned interview.
He added:
"It's a flat wicket, maybe five balls of swing for Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi but there's been no reverse-swing.Test cricket can't afford this pitch to be like this for five days, no wonder no-one is in."
England whitewashed Pakistan by a 3-0 margin in their previous tour of the country in 2022.