Pakistan vs England: Ollie Pope ranks Multan win on par with wins in Rawalpindi and Hyderabad

Hyderabad: England skipper Ollie Pope said England’s innings-victory over Pakistan in the first Test at Multan ranks one among the top-three wins England has achieved since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have taken charge.

McCullum took charge of the England Test team in 2021 and soon Stokes took the captaincy mantle and England’s approach to traditional red-ball cricket has changed much, giving an aggressive outlook, forming the moniker of “Bazball’.

Although many critics have different opinions on how England have played in the last few years, Pope said the win in Multan ranks alongside the win in Rawalpindi (in 2022) and in Hyderabad (in 2024). “Definitely it is a special win for us in the background of the match. I would rate it among the top three alongside our wins in Rawalpindi (2022) and this year in Hyderabad in India,” Pope said at the post-match press conference.

England beat Pakistan by 74 runs in Rawalpindi in 2022 with Jack Leach taking the last Pakistan wicket with just minutes remaining on the clock. In Hyderabad at the start of this year, England beat India by a narrow margin of 28 runs, with Pope scoring 196 in England’s second innings.

In Multan, England scored 823/7 in their innings with Harry Brook scoring a triple century with Joe Root scoring 262.

England’s batting prowess helped them beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs, despite Pakistan scoring 556 in their first innings.

The England captain lauded Root and Brook, both who play for Yorkshire, and credited the bowlers for their stupendous second-innings effort. “It is about cashing on situations when they come your way. In this match I think the way the two Yorkshiremen (Brook and Root) played out there in the heat and conditions was brilliant. Both of them produced mammoth scores and credit also to our bowlers for sticking it out in the given conditions,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Shan Masood said the team’s inability to pick up 20 wickets cost them the match.

Pakistan became the first team in Test history to lose a game after scoring 500 plus runs in the first innings.

“It is disappointing to lose again. England found a way to win the match; they created their window of opportunity. Harsh reality is that in test cricket quality sides find a way to win matches,” Masood said at the post match press conference.

He added: “I wouldn’t say my team is mentally weak but we expected this pitch to break by the third day onwards that is why we prolonged our innings. But at the end of the day you have to find ways to take 20 wickets and we are not doing that in recent times.”