Interim Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson hopes his drastically revamped squad can come through some all too familiar “chaos” with a much-improved showing against England in next week’s third and final Test in Birmingham.
Pakistan suffered an innings and 103-run loss in the series opener at Headingley, before going down by 194 runs at Lord’s on Sunday as England took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match campaign.
The Pakistan Cricket Board responded to those defeats in dramatic fashion, taking the extraordinary step of sending seven players home, calling up another seven and replacing sacked Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed with Hesson, already Pakistan’s white-ball boss.
Senior players Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha — Pakistan’s captain at Headingley when Babar Azam was injured — were among those told to leave. Left-arm spin bowler Ali Usman, who claimed a five-wicket haul at Headingley, and seamer Khurram Shahzad were also sent home.
Of the seven replacements, only batsmen Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal have Test experience.
