LAHORE: Former chief selector and Test batsman Mohammad Ilyas said on Tuesday that Pakistan should play with five bowlers in the next two Test matches to put England batting under pressure and take lead in the series.

“In my opinion, we should not rely wholly on Moham­mad Amir and Yasir Shah and should go in with five bowlers to put more pressure on England,” he said.

Ilyas also expressed surprised on how a highly experienced batsman like Younis Khan was playing out there, dancing and jumping and never in control. “That shows that he is clearly nervous on English pitches.”

Ilyas also advised Azhar Ali to just confine himself to Test cricket, noting playing both types of cricket was destroying his confidence.

He said it was a hard fact that catches win matches, but Pakistan had dropped nearly six or seven catches in the second Test and paid the penalty for allowing the England batsmen to settle down.

He, however, praised the performance of Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq with the bat and added that Pakistan could still stage a comeback if they planned things better and went in with determination.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2016