Let us get straight to the issue, though, which is different from this Test match: Pakistan has managed to eliminate the need for conditions when they are trying to collapse in the third innings. Pakistan's third-inning averages of 115, 172, and 146 tell the tale of their season, and no team has a lower average this year. Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, Sydney. Three games, three losses.
In Sydney, Josh Hazlewood destroyed them while Pakistan threw away a slim advantage. That should not have come as a huge surprise, but Bangladesh carved out a route to triumph by using Pakistan's vulnerability at that point in the game as a model.
Preparing a flat pitch to bat first on carries the risk that, when the game draws to a close, that team is frequently the only one who could lose. It is a precarious position to be in, and, akin to a movie from that series, everything suddenly seems dangerous.
Pakistan would be well to stay out of the surface's criticisms, which have already started. It was hard to disagree with anything Naseem Shah, the best bowler for Pakistan without any rewards today, stated when he complained about the pitch's lack of fast-bowling support during the first Test match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.
However, two sessions later, Pakistan collapsed in a heap and gave Bangladesh a ten-wicket victory. It turns out that if you are skying straight deliveries into the air or dancing down the ground after failing to make contact, you do not need much assistance from the surface to get wickets.
With seven wickets remaining, including an undefeated 243-run partnership, England is 64 runs behind with two days remaining. The heat and dust of Multan will soon put Pakistan's 556 in the past; Joe Root has already passed Alastair Cook, and Harry Brook has surpassed Imran Khan with his fourth hundred in as many games in Pakistan.
They will have almost twice as much time in Multan this week after managing to squeeze 10 wickets out of an at least equally lifeless Rawalpindi surface in just over a day in 2022. The opportunity to take advantage of any demons that could have started to manifest, whether on this sun-baked surface or in the minds of Pakistani batters, is ripe.
"We are still about 60 runs in lead," Jason Gillespie, the head coach of Pakistan, stated as play came to a close. England is likely to bat and attempt to establish a lead before attacking us. That appears to be their strategy. But we can only concentrate on our own performance; we have no control over how they play.
However, being aware of England's strategy does not always protect against it. After all, Pakistan is aware that they have not won a Test match at home in almost four years, but they are eager to break the streak.
However, being aware of England's strategy does not always protect against it. After all, Pakistan is aware that they have not won a Test match at home in almost four years, but they are eager to break the streak.
Salman Ali Agha expressed confidence yesterday that the cracks would "open up large" during the last two days. Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, who were on the team that orchestrated that incredible victory for Pindi in 2022, would find that interesting. Babar Azam's search is still ongoing, as Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique's comeback to form is just one innings old.
Furthermore, even though Masood has frequently highlighted the winning situations Pakistan has achieved throughout his tenure as captain, Pakistan must also accept some of the blame for the fact that they have consistently dismounted those advantageous positions and fallen into the depths of defeat.
The hosts are once again in a position where they need to muster the kind of grit they have not been able to muster in any of the three Test matches they have played this year to achieve the bore draw that ends their losing run, which is the absolute minimum that Pakistan's supporters should anticipate given the circumstances and the caliber of the opposition's bowling.
It might be challenging to surpass mediocrity, as the Final Destination series will demonstrate.
It might be challenging to surpass mediocrity, as the Final Destination series will demonstrate.