Ben Duckett aggressively confronted the Pakistani bowlers, while Joe Root delivered a steady performance to maintain England’s dominance during the third day’s play in the first Test at Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

At Lunch on Day 3, England amassed 232 runs for the loss of 2 wickets, with Ben Duckett and Joe Root at the crease, having scored 80 and 72 runs, respectively.

Pakistan achieved an early breakthrough by dismissing established England batsman Zak Crawley, who was scoring 78 runs off 85 balls.

Subsequent to the dismissal, Duckett partnered with Root, collectively assaulting the Pakistan bowlers and establishing a 119* run partnership for the third wicket in 124 balls.

Duckett, unable to commence the innings yesterday owing to a finger injury, had an aggressive playing style with a strike rate of 100. Concurrently, the in-form Root persisted in demonstrating his refined strokeplay.

At the conclusion of Day 2, England’s score was 96/1, with Crawley undefeated on 64 from 64 balls and Joe Root not out on 32.

The touring team experienced a tumultuous beginning to their first innings, losing their interim leader Ollie Pope for a two-ball duck.

Crawley executed an impressive recovery for England with a rapid innings, while Root maintained a conservative approach until the conclusion of play.

Reverting Aamir Jamal secured the only wicket for Pakistan on the second day.

Before then, Pakistan lost two wickets rapidly in the third session after accumulating a substantial total of 556 runs.

Abrar Ahmed (3) was the final wicket to be dismissed, succumbing to part-time bowler Joe Root. Before that, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who made a significant contribution of 26 runs, was dismissed by Jack Leach.

Salman Ali Agha scored an undefeated 104 runs off 119 balls, including ten boundaries and three sixes.

Pakistan skipper Shan Masood achieved the highest score with a lengthy 151 runs off 177 balls, including 13 fours and two sixes.

Opening batsman Abdullah Shafique delivered an impressive innings of 102 runs off 184 balls, featuring twelve boundaries and two sixes.

Shan chose to bat first after winning the toss and entered the crease in the fourth over following Saim Ayub’s dismissal for 4 runs by Gus Atkinson.

Playing XI for Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Abrar Ahmad.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, and Shoaib Bashir.

Babar Azam’s replacement as the team’s white-ball captain has been discussed openly by Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Babar announced his decision to resign from the role on social media last week. He explained the decision away as the result of a tough schedule and his desire to concentrate more on batting.

Greetings, Fans Today, I’m going to share some news with you. Following my notification to the PCB and Team Management last month, I have chosen to step down from my position as captain of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, according to a statement released by Babar Azam on his social media accounts.

He then said, “It’s been an honor to lead this team, but it’s time for me to step down and concentrate on my playing role.”

He disclosed that, following “thorough consideration,” he has given the selection committee the task of choosing a new captain.

therefore,The captain’s position is crucial, therefore I’ve told them to decide after giving it great thought, Mohsin Naqvi stated.

Recall that Babar Azam led Pakistan for the second time during this tenure. His first term came to an end in November 2023 as a result of Pakistan’s miserable performance in the India ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The top hitter gave up the all-format captaincy, but in March of this year, he was given back the position for white-ball captain. Prior to captaining the reigning champions in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, he led Pakistan in three bilateral T20I series against New Zealand, Ireland, and England.

Younis Khan, the former captain of Pakistan, identified left-handed batsman Fakhar Zaman and wicketkeeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan as possible successors to Babar Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.

When Younis spoke to the media at the storied Adelaide Oval, he suggested that Babar would become a better hitter if he gave up the captaincy.

Younis stated, “Babar Azam will benefit from stepping away from the captaincy.”

It’s a common mistake in our culture, in my opinion, to designate the biggest player as captain. He continued, “Mohammad Rizwan or Fakhar Zaman ought to be given consideration for the position.

Along with discussing the current status of the national men’s cricket team and expressing hope that they would perform well in Australia, the captain of the 2009 T20 World Cup also shared his thoughts.

“I hope the men’s cricket team from Pakistan does well in Australia. Young players make up the present group, and there are undoubtedly some problems with team selection that need to be fixed, according to Younis.

Younis Khan continued to praise Australia’s former bowler Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s head coach for red-ball cricket, saying that he is putting in a lot of effort to improve Pakistani cricket.

“Jason Gillespie and I played cricket together; he is putting a lot of effort into strengthening the Pakistani team. On the other hand, better judgment is required when it comes to choosing,” he stated.

In case you missed it, Younis Khan is visiting Australia in order to take part in the Australian Summer Cricket Festival, which is set to take place in Melbourne on October 5.

The event, which aims to promote the game and bring together cricket talent from around the world, will include the former captain of Pakistan along with Glenn Maxwell and Jake Fraser-McGurk.