Ben Stokes: “You’ve got to hold your hands up to say that those two in particular were obviously too good for our batting line-up in those last two games”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
England captain Ben Stokes has admitted that the Pakistan spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan were “obviously too good” during the three-Test series.
Noman and Sajid only featured in the second and third Tests, but played an immense role in leading the men in green to a 2-1 series win – their first Test series win on home soil since 2021.
Noman, 38, ended up taking 20 wickets, which included two five-wicket hauls, at an average of 13.85.
As for 31-year-old Sajid, he picked up 19 wickets, which also included two five-fors, at an average of 21.10.
“You’ve got to hold your hands up to say that those two in particular were obviously too good for our batting line-up in those last two games. Credit to Noman and Sajid, the way in which they bowled in the second Test match and in this game, you know it was very good and challenging,” Stokes was quoted as saying by A Sports.
After the England series, Pakistan played three ODIs and three T20Is against Australia.
They won the ODI leg 2-1, giving them their first ODI series win in Australia since 2002.
However, things didn’t go as well in the T20I series as the men in green were whitewashed 3-0.
Next up for Pakistan will be a white-ball tour of Zimbabwe, where they will play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
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