Collingwood insists England have belief to chase down ‘tough’ Pakistan target

Although England finished the third day of the second test on a nearly tired pitch with a score of 36 for two, Paul Collingwood stated that they had not given up hope of defeating Pakistan. This was despite the fact that Pakistan was still 261 runs away from achieving a challenging and distant mark. A statement made by the assistant coach was, “We will still have belief.” It’s going to be a heck of a pursuit, but we have to be practical about it; it’s a difficult request to make.

The pursuit of the target by England got off to a disastrous start, with both Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley being dismissed within the first four overs. The only genuine reason for them to be optimistic is the ease with which Salman Agha scored 63 late-innings runs at a time when Pakistan reached 221 in their second session. At least once, he had profited from two dropped catches while he was still in single figures.

“We have to be realistic, it is going to be a difficult chase on what is effectively the ninth day that this wicket has been played on,” Collingwood said. “We have to be prepared for the challenge.” However, this club is capable of doing some extraordinary things, and it has certain batters who are able to put pressure on bowlers because of the conditions that they are playing in. It is common knowledge that once you get on a roll and get a partnership going, everything is possible.

According to Collingwood, a victory in this match would be an even greater accomplishment than the record-breaking success that was achieved in the first test match, which was played on the same Multan surface as the previous encounter. The conditions that we have been given and the circumstances that we are currently facing led him to say, “I believe it would.” “The most incredible thing that has happened is that there is still hope, and the only reason there is hope is because of the incredible things that these guys have accomplished in the past.”

On the other hand, England will not be able to control their aggressive tendencies in a match environment that could cause certain players to withdraw deeper within themselves. If you prod around and don’t try to put the bowler under strain, you will get caught by the near fielders, according to Collingwood. “The statistics will tell you when you are chasing on day four,” he said. It is not possible for us to deviate from our slogan. When we are under pressure, we should take it in, but when we have the chance, we should exert as much pressure as we possibly can. This is our mantra.

As a result of Salman’s combination with the irrepressible Sajid Khan, which resulted in a partnership of 65 runs for the ninth wicket, England’s hopes of establishing a 2-0 lead in the series went from being realistic to being improbable. “I was thinking it would be hard because there was a lot of big changes,” Salman remarked. The manner in which the new players have joined the team is doing a lot of good for Pakistan cricket. We haven’t won a Test match at home in I don’t know how many years now, so it will be of tremendous significance if we are able to achieve victory. It is going to be a significant event for us, and we are going to put all of our efforts into it.The bet that Pakistan made in terms of their selection for this match, which consisted of leaving out several of their most well-known players and packing their team with spinners, appears to be starting to pay off.