Pakistan’s defeat to England in the first Test of the series at home in Multan was not only a setback but also sparked widespread backlash, as the team hadn’t won a Test on home soil since 2021. In response, PCB made shocking changes, introducing a new selection committee for the second Test and removing star players Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah due to poor form. This bold move shocked the masses, especially with the exclusion of Babar, who had been Pakistan’s batting mainstay for years.

Pakistan’s selection strategy reflected their plan for a spin reliant bowling attack, opting for a lineup that included only one frontline quick, Aamer Jamal, who had been their third seamer in the previous match. Earlier, pitch curator Tony Hemming was instructed to prepare a rank turner, reusing the same pitch as the first test. This sudden change paid off, as Pakistan aimed to take all 20 wickets, recognizing that even in the absence of their first-choice spinner, Abrar Ahmed, they could put up a tough fight against England’s batters on a spin-friendly surface.

For the opposition, after being sidelined for nine weeks due to a torn hamstring, which ruled him out of the home series against Sri Lanka and last week’s first Test, Ben Stokes made a comeback in Multan leading his side.

The toss at 9:30 am on the morning of 15th october was anticipated to be a highly important toss to be won because of the reused pitch, no team wanted to bat last. “The toss was always going to be massive,” said the English captain.

The new face in the squad to replace Babar’s longheld number 4 spot was Kamran Ghulam, who seized the opportunity to make an impactful debut with a century. His 149-run partnership with Saim Ayub helped Pakistan maintain stability until Saim departed after being dismissed at 77.

England’s innings was led by Ben Deuckett who scored a century, however, Pakistan’s strategic changes worked wonders as the spinners dominated proceedings. In the first innings, England struggled against Sajid Khan’s spin, with the bowler picking up key wickets despite a century from opener Ben Duckett. England’s first innings ended at 291, giving Pakistan a strong foothold in the match.

Shoaib Bashir gave England a breakthrough when Pakistani top order crumbled against him in the second innings. With some stability provided by the middle order, Salman Ali Agha extended Pakistan’s lead after capitalizing on missed catches by Joe Root and Jamie Smith, pushing Pakistan’s second innings total to a defendable target of 297.

The chase of 297 was always going to be a tough task for England. It would have been their highest chase in Asia and one of their highest ever away from home. Sajid Khan struck early, removing Duckett for a duck in the first over. Noman Ali soon followed, claiming Zak Crawley’s wicket with the help of a brilliant stumping by Mohammad Rizwan.

On day 4, England’s hopes rested on the middle order, but the batters couldn’t go past Noman Ali. He ended up claiming 8 wickets in the second innings, decimating England’s lineup.

England was bowled out by Pakistan at just 144, giving Pakistan a massive victory of 152 runs.

In a broader context, England’s aggressive approach under Stokes and Brendon McCullum has thrived in conditions where the bat has typically dominated, but it has struggled when bowlers have taken charge.

England’s disappointment was further highlighted by Stokes’ admission that he had apologized to his teammates for his display of frustration on the third evening in Multan. This came at a critical moment when the second Test began to slip away due to a series of dropped catches and fielding errors

It also marked Shan Masood’s first victory as captain, a significant milestone after a challenging a streak of losses. “This was a very important win for Pakistan cricket,” he said in the post match presser. “The recent results were unacceptable. There is relief.”

With the spin duo of Sajid and Noman taking all 20 wickets in the match, this victory will be remembered as a strategic masterclass by Pakistan. There have been only seven instances in Test history where two bowlers shared all 20 wickets for their team, including Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in Multan. The last occurrence before this was in 1972 by Australia against England.

Sajid Khan was declared the player of the match for the magical spin with 9 wickets in the bag, which helped Pakistan clinch victory.