Their 10-wicket thrashing of the hosts in the fourth and final Test at the Oval on Sunday gave Pakistan, now third in the standings, a chance of climbing to the top of the table.
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Ecstatic after team’s crushing victory over England at The Kia Oval to level the four-match Test series 2-2, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq believes his side deserves to be number one in the ICC Test rankings.
They did so in dominant fashion, sealing a 10-wicket win on the fourth afternoon when Azhar Ali despatched Moeen Ali for a straight six.
Cook, who is now one test win short of equaling his predecessor Andrew Strauss’s record of 24 and 3 short of England’s national record of 26 wins by Michael Vaughan, spoke on the eve of the fourth and final test of the home series against Pakistan.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took five for 71 after Younis Khan (218) and Asad Shafiq (109) made excellent centuries in Pakistan’s first innings 542 all out.
Pakistan won the first test at Lord’s by 75 runs before England came back hard with a 330-run victory at Manchester and a 141-run win at Birmingham.
“Once this test match is finished, sitting back and learning as much as we can from what we’ve done through this series and take that into the big series we’ve got later on in India”, Starc said.
They have a chance to go to the top of the rankings if Sri Lanka and West Indies either draw or win their respective Tests against Australia and India.
“It is frustrating for the side and it is an area we have to work on”.
We had an opportunity to win it 3-1 coming into this game but Pakistan bounced back really well and deserved to win this game.
“We’ve given everyone a pretty fair go”, he told BBC’s Test Match Special.
The off-spinner’s 11 wickets in the series came at an expensive average of 46.54 apiece and denied Cook the control he wanted in the field.
England had resumed on 88 for four and Gary Ballance soon fell for 17 but Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 65 to give the hosts hoping of saving the match.
Crediting both England and Pakistan for producing a highly competitive series, Cook also hailed the spirit in which both the teams played the four Tests.
England must decide whether to move on again, at the top and in the middle order, but compelling candidates in county cricket are thin on the ground.
Pakistan level series 2-2 against England at the Oval.
‘These four days showed where we are, ‘ said Cook.
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While admitting that the missed chances are an area of concern, Cook said that England win games when they hold onto the catches.
