The Pakistan Cricket Board was slammed by many former cricketers because of the quality of the pitch which was provided in Rawalpindi for Pakistan-England test match as it was absolutely flat and few former English cricketers even went on to say that it was an absolute road. While the teams made big scores in the Rawalpindi test match, things changed drastically in the second test match which was played at Multan Cricket Stadium.
Presently, the England cricket team is leading the 3-match test series by 2-0 after winning the Multan test match on the 4th day of the game. The toss was won by the hosts and they decided to bat first but this time, Pakistani bowlers especially the debutante Abrar Ahmed was on a roll as he picked 7 wickets and gave away only 114 runs. The England cricket team managed only 281 runs in its first innings but Pakistani batters failed in taking the advantage of the situation as the Pak team got out for just 202 runs in its first innings. In their second innings also, England batters failed in making a big score as the whole team got out for 275 runs and gave a target of 355 to Pakistan to win the match.
The Pakistani batters did show some fight as openers Abdullah Shafique (45 runs) and Mohammad Rizwan (30 runs) gave a steady start and later on Saud Shakeel (94 runs) along with Imam-ul-Haq (60 runs) played brilliant innings but the whole Pakistani side got out on the score of 328 runs and lost the match by 26 runs.
However, an interesting incident took place as Pakistani batter Mohammad Ali refused to shake hands with England skipper Ben Stokes. On the score of 328, Mohammad Ali edged the ball to wicketkeeper Ollie Pope on the bowling of Ollie Robinson though the nick was quite clear, still Mohammad Ali took DRS. While the decision was pending, Ben Stokes walked up to Mohammad Ali for a handshake as it was quite clear that England had sealed the victory but Mohammad Ali refused to shake hands as he was waiting for the decision.
Here is the video of the incident:
— Guess Karo (@KuchNahiUkhada) December 12, 2022
Click to watch this video directly on Twitter
After the match, Ben Stokes praised his players especially the bowlers for playing well in this test match. On the other hand, Babar Azam was not happy with the performance of his batters in the first innings. Babar Azam said they did put up a fight in the second innings but he accepted that their batting was not up to the mark in the game. Both the skippers praised debutante Abrar Ahmed who took 7 wickets in the first innings of England and then he took 4 wickets in the second innings as well.
The third and the final match of the series will start on 17 December and will be played at Karachi.
