While Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah sustained injuries during the first test and missed the following two matches, the hosts were without their top left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi throughout the three test defeats to England.
Afridi will miss the two tests against New Zealand in Karachi and Multan as he recovers from a knee ailment and an appendix removal earlier this month. In just 25 tests, the 22-year-old has claimed 99 wickets at an average of 24.86.
In the series against England, six Pakistani players made their test debuts: Rauf, Mohammad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mahmood, Abrar Ahmed, and Mohammad Wasim.
Despite being on the losing side twice, Abrar Ahmed was a major success for Pakistan, taking 17 wickets in two tests at an average of 27.17 against the ferociously aggressive Englishmen. Another debutant made headlines was Said Shakeel who scored 346 runs at 57.66, including four half-centuries.
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None of the other newcomers, though, made much of an impression as the hosts were annihilated by a ruthless English squad that had previously defeated the New Zealand 3-0 in England.
The third test loss at the National Stadium in Karachi was just their third test defeat there; their previous two defeats there were against England in 2000 and South Africa in 2007. Pakistan has now lost four straight home tests for the first time in their history. It is an embarassing remark but they have to move on.
After retiring at the end of the series with 7142 test runs at 42.26, senior most batsman Azhar Ali, they will now enter the first test against New Zealand at the location without him.
While talking to journalists, Babar Azam said that absence of first choice fast bowlers was a big blow to the side who could never recover. But that not being an excuses, he appreciated England’s playing method throughout the test series.
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“We were unfortunate that our main fast bowlers were not fit,” he said after England’s eight-wicket win in the third and final test.
“The new players did perform but couldn’t execute the way we wanted. When things were in our hands we had soft dismissals in those times and due to that we couldn’t win matches which we should have won.
“When you don’t have the backbone of your bowling, then new bowlers found it difficult to adjust quickly.”
“Our strength was our batting, but we played well in patches and couldn’t finish the games, It’s a big disappointment that we couldn’t apply ourselves in the series, but we must praise England for the way they played their cricket, we must appreciate that.”