‘We’re not used to facing it’: Pakistan hide behind ‘conditions’ as England batting woes continue

Ollie Robinson celebrates the wicket of Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique, caught by Dan Lawrence, during the first day of the third Test match between England and Pakistan, at Edgbaston, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, September 9, 2026. (AP) Pakistan’s struggles with the bat continued in the third and final Test against England when the visitors were bowled out for 133 on the first day at Edgbaston. After losing the first two Tests at Leeds and Lord’s, Pakistan made several changes to their team but failed to stem another batting collapse.England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bowl. Josh Tongue took 4-42 while Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer took three wickets each as Pakistan were dismissed in 44.3 overs.Saud Shakeel was Pakistan’s top scorer with 43, but the rest of the batting order again failed to spend time at the crease. This was the fifth time Pakistan had batted in the series and each time they had managed to bowl less than 200.England then moved to 156-4 at stumps and took a 23-run lead. Emilio Gay and Harry Brook scored fifties to put the hosts in control before the end of the game. Joe Root was dismissed lbw, the 10th time he had been out in this manner in his last 13 innings.Shakeel said that Pakistan were making the same mistakes with the bat and could not deal with the conditions.“It’s depressing, we’re making the same mistake as the batsman,” Shakeel said. “We play in groups and today there were a lot of soft sending offs. We are trying, but yes, it is frustrating that we keep making the same mistakes. I don’t think it’s a confidence issue. If you don’t have the confidence to play at this level, then you don’t deserve to play here. But in difficult conditions, bad form can be quite difficult to shake off.”He said the team was working to solve their problems but found it difficult to handle the movement offered to the England bowlers.“We work hard, it’s not like we don’t try,” Shakeel said. “There’s a lot of lateral movement and we’re not used to facing that, but we’re trying our best. I’m not saying our batting group didn’t fight, we accepted that. But the conditions were tough.”

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