It’s quite clear that England do struggle against the tail and maybe Stokes needs a bit of help in terms of that. Maybe he needs a bit of advice from Joe Root, who tends to have a great record against the tail. But, at the moment, England don’t.
Stokes does need to ask himself a few questions. He needs to ask himself, ‘Why didn’t I bring my fielders up? Why didn’t I try and tempt Shakeel into playing a big shot when he was just knocking it around for ones?’
It’s something for him to learn. He’s a young captain and he’s learning all the time. But, if you’re going to beat good sides like Pakistan and better sides in the future, you have to get better at that.
England will need to regroup and come back strongly on day three if they are to avoid defeat in the series-deciding Test against Pakistan.
England will need a strong performance from their top order batsmen to get themselves back into the game. With Root and Brook at the crease, there is still hope for the tourists to put up a fight and challenge Pakistan’s dominance in the match. It will be crucial for them to focus on building a solid partnership and taking advantage of the conditions to score runs.
With two days left in the match, England still have a chance to turn things around and come out on top. It will require determination and skill from their players, but it is definitely within their reach. The third day of the Test match will be crucial in determining the outcome, and England will need to come out with a strong performance to keep their hopes alive.