England v Pakistan: 5 player battles in the first Test

#1 Azhar Ali v James Anderson

James Anderson

Visiting teams which find success in England are almost always blessed with at least one excellent opening batsman and in Azhar Ali, Pakistan have a player who is not only an excellent player but also the most experienced batsman in the team. In his previous tour to England in 2016, Ali made one century and averaged more than 42 as Pakistan squared the four-Test series 2-2. If they are to compete at Lord’s then Azhar Ali would need to play well and more importantly, tackle the threat posed by James Anderson with the new ball.

He could only make 4 and 2 in the two innings against Ireland but seemed to have returned to some form in the practice game against Leicestershire, in which he made 73. England’s fast bowling ace James Anderson, on the other hand, is a very difficult bowler to negotiate when he is at home and he would trouble the Pakistani openers at Lord’s. However, the challenge for Ali would be to find a way to get through his initial and if he can do that, then Pakistan would be in a good position.