Pakistan is a highly skilled side, not taking them lightly: Ollie Pope

Ollie Pope stated that Pakistan is a very talented team, mentioning elite players like Naseem Shah, Babar Azam, and Shaheen Afridi who will try to change the course of events for the Asian heavyweights. Notably, the team lost an embarassing series against Bangladesh in the previous month.

On the other hand, a three-match series between England and Pakistan is scheduled to start on Monday, October 7, at the Multan Cricket Stadium. For those who are unaware, usual captain Ben Stokes is still recovering from a hamstring injury, thus Pope will captain the Three Lions in the first Test. Recently, the right-handed batsman helped England defeat Sri Lanka 2-1 in a three-match Test series played at home. Ollie Pope claimed before of the opening Test matchup with Pakistan that Shan Masood and company are being taken seriously by the visitors due to their lackluster recent performances.

“They are a really talented team, even though they haven’t played well lately. Ahead of the first Test match in Multan, India Today reported Pope as stating, “There are a lot of the same faces in the squad (like in last tour) and like I said, they have not had the easiest of ride recently, but like I said, they have highly skilled players.”

“Very excellent batsmen and bowlers, such Babar, Naseem, and Shaheen, will try to have an effect on this series. We take them very seriously as a team,” he said in closing.

On the WTC table, where are Pakistan and England?

England was wallowing in the lower half of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings until they emerged victorious from their past six Test matches, securing their current No. 4 ranking. They triumphed in all three of the games played during their most recent Test series tour of Pakistan. They can aim for a position in the top two of the standings with a similar outcome.

Also Read: Gus Atkinson shares his plans ahead of Test series vs Pakistan

In the meantime, Pakistan’s World Cup performance was forgettable, and they are currently ranked eighth. Only the West Indies are ranked higher than them. Masood’s troops would want to move past the mishaps and confront the British with all weapons blazing.