ENG vs PAK 2020 series will comprise of three test matches followed by three T20 games. Both Pakistan and England have been successful in T20 world events with a championship each in 2009 and 2010, respectively. England will be looking forward to continue their white-ball domination after the 2019 WC triumph while Pakistan will be having a keen eye on preparing the youngsters for the T20 world cup in 2021.
If we look at the team records first, both teams have locked horns for a total of 15 times in T20 format. England has dominated the proceedings with 10 wins while on 4 occasions, Pakistan has managed to sail through. England has won 5 matches each at home and neutral venues while 3 out of the last 5 encounters have also gone in English directions.
| ENG vs PAK Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Played | ENG | PAK | No Result |
| 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
Pakistan toured England last year just before the beginning of the ICC cricket world cup. At Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first in a one-off T20. Jofra Archer and Tom Curran were brilliant in their first spells but once Babar Azam was set, his magnificent stroke-play made a beautiful viewing for any cricket fan. He made 65 and got a good support from a Haris Sohail half-century. Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf applied the finishing touches and Pakistan posted a competitive 173 runs on the board. Jofra Archer picked up two scalps on his T20I debut. In the chase, after the early fireworks from James Vince, England was always on the course. Joe Root and Eoin Morgan shared a match-winning partnership with later remained unbeaten on 57 and took England home with four balls to go. Home side won the match by 7 wickets and started off their white-ball summer in a brilliant fashion.
| LAST 5 ENCOUNTERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Played | ENG | PAK | No Result |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
This English batting lineup has changed the ways in terms of approaching a white-ball innings. They have been destructive and have raised the bars with their ball-striking abilities. If we look at their records against Pakistan in the shortest format, captain Eoin Morgan is leading the pack with 300 runs from 12 innings. James Vince has also worked out Pakistani bowling brilliantly with 161 runs from 4 innings. Joe Root and Joe Denly conclude the list with 105 and 26 runs respectively. Some of their stars are yet to play a game in this format against Pakistan. Eoin Morgan has an average of 42.86 while a strike-rate of 128.76 which are the best from the table. Strike-rates of English players have been on the lower side mainly due to the some of the pitches at Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Eoin Morgan is comfortably leading both the tables at home and neutral venues. Jos Buttler will be looking to correct his record against Pakistan which is not making a good reading currently. Apart from that, Jonny Bairstow will have something to say to the selectors and he is warming up very well during the intra-squad matches.
Pakistani batting lineup has a famous synonym in ‘unpredictable’ associated with it. Even after having so many talents around in the domestic circuit, temperaments of their batsmen have always remained in question. But as they say, as the format goes shorter the weaker batting lineup will be having the more room to topple the oppositions. In the numbers against England from the current lot, Shoaib Malik is at the top with 234 runs from 8 innings while another veteran Mohammad Hafeez has 134 runs from 9 innings. Babar Azam has been impressive in limited matches he played till now with 80 runs from 2 innings. Fawad Alam completes the table with 72 runs from 5 matches. Babar Azam has the best average and strike-rate from the list (80 & 150.94 respectively).
Babar Azam is leading the chart in English conditions while Shoaib Malik is topping the list for the matches played at neutral venues including UAE. Again strike-rates are a significant concern for them if they are to pose any challenges to this power-packed English side.
| TOP 4 BATSMEN (among current players) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | |||||||||
| No. | Player | Innings | Not out | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | |
| 1 | EJG Morgan | 12 | 5 | 300 | 42.86 | 128.76 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2 | JM Vince | 4 | 0 | 161 | 40.25 | 121.97 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | JE Root | 4 | 0 | 105 | 26.25 | 117.98 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | JL Denly | 3 | 1 | 26 | 13.00 | 104.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pakistan | |||||||||
| No. | Player | Innings | Not out | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | |
| 1 | Shoaib Malik | 8 | 0 | 234 | 29.25 | 118.18 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Mohammad Hafeez | 9 | 0 | 134 | 14.89 | 96.40 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Babar Azam | 2 | 1 | 80 | 80.00 | 150.94 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | Fawad Alam | 5 | 0 | 72 | 14.40 | 94.74 | 0 | 0 | |
English bowling has seen plenty of improvements under the leadership of Eoin Morgan in the last 4-5 years. All the bowlers have been given specific roles and they have performed it with most perfection. The variety in the bowling department is almost impeccable with having all the types of bowlers in their kitty. Liam Plunkett leads the table for top wicket-takers against Pakistan in T20 format with 6 wickets from 3 innings. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid is at the following position with 4 scalps from 5 innings while left-arm pacer David Willey has 3 wickets from 4 innings. Jofra Archer has a couple from only T20 game he played. Liam Plunkett has an average of 13 while Adil Rashid has an economy of 6.60 from the list.
Notably, most of these English bowlers have played their matches against Pakistan in UAE but bowling in English conditions won’t be an issue at all for them. The role of Moeen Ali will also be crucial as only two grounds are being used for the whole summer and pitches are bound to get tired in the end.
Bowling department has always remained the stronger unit compared to their batting counterparts over the years. Young fast-bowlers along with canny spinners can be found in abundance if you are watching a Pakistan side play. From the touring squad of Pakistan, Wahab Riaz has the most wickets in T20 format against England. He has taken 5 wickets from 4 innings while Mohammad Hafeez has 3 scalps from 5 innings. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim has picked up 3 wickets from a couple of games against England. Shoaib Malik is at the fourth spot with 2 wickets from 5 innings.
Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik have taken all of their wickets at neutral venues and yet to open their accounts in England. If we take a look at the list of wicket-takers in English conditions, retired players dominate here with Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar featuring in the list. Young fast-bowlers with the likes of Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi will be waiting for their opportunities to perform against this challenging opposition.
| TOP 4 BOWLERS (among current players) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Player | Innings | Wickets | 5w | 4w | ||||||||||
| 1 | JC Archer | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2 | CJ Jordan | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 3 | TK Curran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Pakistan | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Player | Innings | Wickets | 5w | 4w | ||||||||||
| 1 | Wahab Riaz | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Imad Wasim | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Mohammad Hafeez | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Shoaib Malik | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||