But, Sohail Khan seen off all the doubts among Pakistan supporters and proved to be “surprise weapon” for English batsmen, who probably were confident to dominant third Test too.
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That left Pakistan 143 runs behind England’s first innings 297. “I know I was out of order for the way I behaved up to that point”.
Anderson showed his frustration when umpire Joel Wilson inspected the pitch due to concerns about the seamer’s follow through before the tourists moved on to 72-1 at lunch.
Younis Khan was 21 not out, having helped Azhar add 76 for the third wicket.
“If you really have to put pressure on the opposition, it’s important to get their main players out because those are the two pillars of their batting”, said Misbah.
Azhar punished England for dropping him twice with his 10th century in 48 Tests. “I’ve apologised to both umpires as my behaviour wasn’t acceptable”.
The last time Pakistan dropped Masood, in Sharjah during England’s visit to the UAE past year, his replacement was Azhar Ali who had missed the first two Tests of that series due to injury.
England all-rounder, Ben Stokes, who sustained a calf injury during the second innings of the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford, was ruled out of the rest of the four-match series on Wednesday (August 3).
So overall we’re pretty happy with that, and if the conditions are the same tomorrow (Thursday), our bowlers will be very happy.
England’s attack leader has never been the cheeriest soul on the field yet even by those standards, he was in a fearful grump for most of the second day at Edgbaston.
But given Pakistan’s repeated top-order problem, Aslam and Azhar’s second-wicket stand of 181 was a much-needed morale boost.
Pakistan had received a jolt only four balls into their innings when Hafeez fell for a duck after lazily guiding a short James Anderson delivery to Gary Ballance at point.
Sohail had taken two wickets for eight runs in nine balls, with Vince, yet to score a Test fifty, walking out with England in trouble.
Aslam, brought into the side to replace Shan Masood, shaped up well in his third Test showing good awareness of his off stump and an eagerness to take singles to keep the strike rotating.
Sami scored 82 off 176 balls before he was run out while Azhar went on to smash a century.
But with England on the ropes, a self-inflicted wound saw Aslam run out.
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That was nearly Azhar’s undoing, though, as he advanced down the track and smashed a return catch to Moeen Ali, the ball bursting through the off-spinner’s hands as he attempted to snare a hard chance above his head.
