The Pakistan cricket team had a tough time on day 4 of the first Test match against England, conceding a mammoth total of 823/7 before the declaration came, which is now the fourth highest team total in the longest format of the game. Their young spinner, Abrar Ahmed, could not take part in the fourth day's play because he had fallen ill with fever and body ache before being hospitalised in Multan.
Notably, Abrar Ahmed has been a key player for Pakistan in Test cricket despite his indifferent form, giving away 175 runs at the close of play on day three against England after bowling 35 overs, and he couldn’t take any wickets either . The hot weather in Multan is likely to be the reason why after a long day of bowling in the heat on day three, he got sick and had to go to the hospital for a check-up on the fourth morning.
England post 823/7 declared before picking up six wickets in Pakistan second innings
England were on song right throughout their first innings, posting a huge total of 823 runs for 7 wickets after batting for 150 overs. Their batters, especially Harry Brook, the triple centurion, and Joe Root, the double centurion, performed exceptionally, and made it difficult for Pakistan to take wickets consistently. Now, England are just four wickets away from winning the Test match in the second innings, which puts the hosts in a tough spot as they face another possible defeat at home on day five, trailing by 115 runs .
Abrar’s absence was a big loss for the Pakistani team, as he is their main spinner. Without him, the team struggled to control the runs. However, Pakistan's part-time spinners Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub, and Saud Shakeel bowled 34 over together. Salman took the important wicket of Joe Root on 262, and Ayub took the wickets of Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson.
As the match goes into Day 5, Pakistan is on the verge of another humiliating defeat on their home soil. The team also faced some tough times against Bangladesh after dominating the initial days of the match. Pakistan's bowling looked so ordinary in this match; on the other hand, despite a good batting surface, England's bowlers managed to get all 10 wickets for Pakistan in the first inning and took six wickets in just 37 overs.
