After nearly four months of no international or league action, many cricket fans have felt normalcy with England returning to host international cricket. They hosted two series within a month – a Test series against West Indies and an ODI series against Ireland. Despite the lower-ranked team playing away from home, we still had some competitive cricket. Both the series were well-fought with England, eventually winning 2-1, albeit the different formats. All this happened within a month. Hence, the matches’ close-packed nature ensured that we didn’t miss much cricket, despite only one country hosting it during this adverse situation.
Now it is time for England to host few more 3-match series, first 3-Tests against Pakistan followed by 3 T20Is against the same team. The Test series, which will commence today, is a part of the ongoing 2019-21 World Test Championship. The last two times Pakistan toured England for a Test series, it was a 1-1 draw in 2018 and a 2-2 draw in 2016. So we might expect more intensifying cricket in the Test series, with no side starting as the favorites. Here are a few numbers related to the Test series.
[Edit: The Head to head records have been updated after the 1st Test match of the 2020 Pakistan series.]
England vs Pakistan – Head to Head Records and Individual Stats (Test Cricket)
26-21 – When England and Pakistan faced each other in Tests, England won 26, and Pakistan won 21, along with 37 Tests being drawn. Though the overall numbers are close, one would expect the record in England to be tilted towards the home team. At home against Pakistan, England won 24 with the visitors just 12 wins, along with 18 draws. Among the 12 wins by visitors, 3 of them were in the last two series, with Pakistan managing to draw both.
9-8 – Among ENG-PAK Test series, England won 9 of them, Pakistan won 8, and a further 8 were drawn. While playing Pakistan at home, England won 7 series and lost just 3, with 5 more drawn. The three times Pakistan won a Test series in England were during their consecutive tours in 1987, 1992, and 1996.
2 – Total matches that will be hosted by The Rose Bowl, Southampton, in this series. This was the venue where England lost the first Test against West Indies, before winning the next two games at Old Trafford, Manchester.
12 – Total matches out of last 15 which England won at Manchester, since 2002. Interestingly all the three games which England didn’t win were against Australia (draw in 2010 and 2014, a defeat in 2019).
972 – Total runs scored by Joe Root in England vs Pakistan Test matches, which is the highest of any player who will feature in the series. These runs were scored in just 10 Tests (19 inns) at a fabulous average of 61.6. That huge average is Root’s highest against any team, followed by his average of 56.8 against India. At home, Root averages almost the same, which is 59.8 against Pakistan.
