LONDON: Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that Pakistan team has all the elements which were required to beat England in the upcoming series.

The 45-year-old has always been vocal about his views and he doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind.

“Pakistan team has all the elements that are required to beat England in the upcoming series. I’m not trying to demean West Indies but Pakistan is a better Test match team than the Caribbean outfit,” he said while speaking to Cricbuzz as quoted by republicworld.com.

Vaughan said he was really looking forward to the England vs Pakistan Test series and he was confident that the series will be a ripper.

He reckoned that Pakistan could come to England and shock the hosts if the English side plays as they did in the first Test against West Indies at Southampton.

“Babar Azam and Azhar Ali are two right-hand batsmen of high quality, who know how to play in England conditions,” he said.

Pakistan would be led in the T20 format by Babar Azam on the tour of England. However, prior to that, Babar Azam’s batting prowess would hold the key for Pakistan to succeed in the Test series as well.

He opined that if Pakistan bat first, they would look to get runs on the board which would really challenge the England side. However, England would be riding high on confidence as they came from behind to clinch the three-match series 2-1 against West Indies.

The Pakistan-England Test series would begin on August 5 with the opening Test at Old Trafford. The series would see the teams competing in three Tests and as many T20s. The T20 series would be played in Manchester from August 28.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2020