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Root 7/2 for century
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Azhar Ali underrated
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How to bet aggressive England
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Pakistan v England
Friday 9 December, 05:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports
Team news
We'll get to England's revolutionary style of play in a bit. But it would be remiss not to consider Pakistan's 'after you, Claude' style in assisting.
For a kick off Pakistan picked a bowling unit who it transpired were not worthy of the international stage. It looked - and performed - like a President's XI. Not all their fault because Shaheen Shah Afridi is injured. Haris Rauf has joined him so Hasan Ali, who should have been playing in he first place, is expected to return. They may also find room for the all-action all-roudner Faheem Ashraf.
Possible XI: Shafique, Imam, Azhar, Babar, Shakeel, Salman, Rizwan, Faheem, Hasan, Naseem, Zaid
Are England cream-crackered? James Anderson and Ollie Robinson got through an awful lot of work and it is perhaps a surprise that both play again.
That means Jamie Overton misses out. There's no Ben Foakes, either. Ollie Pope takes the gloves again. That's a controversial move but entirley in keeping with England's gung-ho attitude. Fans can't have it both ways.
Possible XI: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes, Jacks, Leach, Robinson, Wood, Anderson
Pitch report
Test cricket returns to Multan for the first time since 2006. Historically it has been another road. Who can forget Viru Sehwag's triple in 2004? We're looking at playing on big runs regardless who bats first and more then 450 should very much be on. We might get close to 3.02/1 for the home team to do so.
How to play
Right then. How to play when England score so fast, put time back in the game and make bold, declarations which say 'we don't care if we lose'.
The first thing to say that, given the above and England's batting dominance in 'Pindi, Pakistan look way too skinny at 2.546/4. England are 2.8815/8. That is a price which surely drifts if they bowl first. It contracts sharply if they do not.
The stalemate price is of most interest. The way England play makes it hard to see how a draw happens. At 3.814/5 it absolutely has to shorten with those big first-innings runs. That means we should be on red alert for laying a sizeable chunk if it comes in by a point. It's the play of the Test.
There have been concerns that early-morning smog and early sunsets will curtail play. But Ben Stokes said he is prepared even to forfeit an innings to force a result. Draw, seemingly, is a dirty word.
Tops value
We're keen on a batter each for top Pakistan and England. Azhar Ali gives us a 5% edge on win rate at Sportsbook's 4/1. Ollie Pope looks big at 5s (he wins at that rate) but has a great chance of bedding in at No 3.
Confidence is tempered, however, by the likelihood this is a flat one. Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Pope all notched tons in the first dig but were losers on the market so picking a player for a fifty or century is the smarter play. Azhar and Pope are both priced at 11/2
Joe Root is even money for a fifty and 7/2 for a ton. He is record on the Asian subcontinent is superb. Babar Azam is the same price on both markets. Check prices for all players here.