England vs Pakistan: ‘Embarrassing’ tourists have ‘mental fatigue’ after chaotic morning in third Test
The only thing gloomier than the leaden skies at lunch on day one of the third Test at Edgbaston will have been the mood in the Pakistan dressing room as things went from bad to worse.
Downcast might be understating it.
A raft of controversial changes made by the Pakistan Cricket Board were supposed to act as a defibrillator to this team.
Despite the shock treatment there was little sense the tourists will be sparked back to life to finish this series with a flourish as they slumped to 133 all out.
There may have only been 33.5 overs in the game but already their cause in Birmingham looks a forlorn one. If you have tickets, even for day three, it might be worth considering making other plans.
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja said Pakistan’s “technique and mindset” were “pretty ordinary”.
“There’s mental fatigue and turmoil in the dugout, I can understand that,” he told Test Match Special.
“They have not been proactive at all. They have to have a plan. This is a flat pitch, it’s not a demon-like pitch, like the third day at Lord’s.”
In mitigation, CricViz’s bounce inconsistency rating had this pitch at 5.7 which is higher than at Edgbaston in 2025 (2.6 vs India), 2024 (3.2 vs West Indies) and 2023 (3.3 vs Australia).
England, of course, bowled well. Their four-pronged seam attack hitting their straps after Joe Root had won the toss in Autumnal conditions.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that Pakistan were “clearly shot for confidence” after such a disastrous morning.
“I feel for Pakistan because this is embarrassing with everything they’ve had to cope with in the last week,” he said.
Pakistan’s top five were all gone with the score on the Thwaite Memorial scoreboard showing just 48.
It meant unwanted history for the tourists.
It was the 12th time a team’s top five have all been out for single figures in a Test match – but the first time it has happened in the first innings.
They are closing in on a second record too.
A team has never started an innings worse than Pakistan during a series in England.
Their second wicket in this series has fallen with the score of 6 and 13 at Leeds, 16 and 7 at Lord’s and 14 when the second wicket fell on Wednesday.
That is a total of 56 runs for the first two wickets – an average partnership of 5.6 and 11.2 runs for the fall of the second wicket this series.
They are set to break a record set by Australia in 1888, who averaged just 16 for the fall of their second wicket in that series.
It’s hard not to feel some sympathy.
For example opener Saim Ayub, one of those called up for this Test, is playing in a first-class match for the first time since October 2025.
Facing Ollie Robinson in these conditions meant that his dismissal felt like a fait accompli from the moment the opener marked his guard.
Yet there was an end-of-term feel to some of the strokeplay from the Pakistan batters, too. At odds with the discipline they needed to show.
Four wickets down and Saud Shakeel and Babar Azam were extravagantly flashing their blades outside off stump. Two players into their thirties with plenty of experience, who should know better.
Pakistan’s false-shot percentage in the morning session was 40%, the second highest in the opening session of a Test since 2006.
Saud survived until lunch but Babar perished 40 minutes before the interval – bowled by Tongue – gesticulating at the pitch.
“He [Babar] disintegrated. It’s tough for him,” added Ramiz.
“He’s got to explain all this mayhem and then he has to look after himself and then he’s got to work with the lot that are more T20 in nature than Test cricket.”
There has only been two teams in a three-match series that have been bowled out six times for under 200 and they were both in the 19th century – the 1888 Australians and South Africa in 1895-96.
Pakistan need to find some resolve when they bat again to avoid joining them.
