England Tour of Pakistan 2022 – England’s Test Squad arrives in Pakistan
England Cricket Team has arrived in Pakistan for their upcoming three-match test series against Pakistan.
The test series is part of the ICC World Test Championship and will be crucial for Pakistan’s qualification for the Final. This is bright, promising, and encouraging news for the cricketing fraternity, as there were some shadows cast over the tour when England aborted their limited-overs tour last year due to security concerns.
However, England Tour of Pakistan: English Cricket Board did send its T20I Team to Pakistan a couple of months ago in its build-up for the ICC World T20.
England Tour of Pakistan: Security Issues in the Past
This is England’s first test tour of the country since 2005. The security issues in the country and an attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in 2009 meant that Pakistan was deprived of hosting any International Cricket between 2009 and 2015.
Zimbabwe was the first test team to tour the country in 2015. Since then, cricket has returned to Pakistan. The country has hosted West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia, ICC World XI Team, England, Zimbabwe, and South Africa since then. Moreover, multiple editions of the Pakistan Super League have also been hosted in the country over the past couple of years.
This has changed the world’s perception of the country, and Pakistan is now seen as a safe and beautiful destination for Cricket as well as tourism.
England Tour of Pakistan: England’s preparation for the Pakistan Tour
English squad had first traveled to the United Arab Emirates. It was an extended group of players that included England’s Test Side and England’s second-string Team, England Lions. The touring party had started its preparations in UAE to get used to the weather conditions in Asia and prepare for the spinning tracks. England also played an intra-squad match in UAE as a build-up for the Pakistan Tour.
After playing a three-day practice match against the England Lions, the English Test Squad departed for Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday. The English Team landed in Islamabad around 2 in the morning and were warmly welcomed by the Pakistan Cricket Officials. Following that, they were escorted to their team hotel by the security agencies and officials.
In recent years, touring teams have been given presidential-level security in Pakistan to avoid any mishaps or unfortunate incident.
English Team will start their preparations for the upcoming test series on Monday while the first test match is scheduled for Thursday. So, the English Team will have four days to get used to the conditions.
The first test match will take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, which offers good bounce and pace and will suit England’s style of play.
Captain Stokes Tweet:
Right after landing in the country, the English Test Captain Ben Stokes tweeted, “Hello Pakistan.” This was graciously received by the Pakistan Fans, who were absolutely delighted to have the English Team in the country.
