One, two or three players cannot be blamed for what happened to Pakistan at Headingley. Several players failed to deliver as England crushed the visitors by an innings and 103 runs inside three days.
Even before the series started, former England pacer Stuart Broad had described Pakistan as a “poor side”. After what happened in the opening Test, that comment is certainly going to be discussed again.
Losing by an innings is not the biggest problem here. Pakistan are an Asian team playing in English conditions, where swing and seam movement can make life extremely difficult for visiting batters.
The real concern was the way Pakistan lost.
There was hardly any fight. The body language was poor at times, catches were dropped, the batting collapsed twice and the team never really looked capable of forcing its way back into the contest.
Among all the disappointing performances, these five Pakistan players who failed against England will face some of the biggest questions ahead of the second Test.
1. Salman Ali Agha – Captain Failed to Lead From the Front
Salman Ali Agha is the first name on this list, and his performance becomes even more disappointing because he was leading Pakistan in the absence of Babar Azam.
A captain cannot control everything that happens on a cricket field. However, his body language, tactical decisions and ability to lift his players become even more important when the team is under pressure.
Pakistan needed that energy from Salman at Headingley.
Instead, there were periods when the team looked flat and short of ideas.
His dropped catch of Harry Brook was particularly costly. Brook was on just one when Salman failed to hold the chance at slip. The England batter went on to score 91 from 93 balls and helped push Pakistan completely out of the contest.
That is exactly the type of opportunity you cannot afford to miss in England.
Salman’s contribution with the bat was also disappointing. As captain and one of the more experienced players in the middle order, Pakistan needed him to take responsibility.
More than the runs, however, it was the overall approach that disappointed.
A captain has to be the player telling everyone else that the match is not over. Pakistan did not show enough of that fighting attitude at Headingley.
2. Azan Awais – Nightmare Start to the Test
Azan Awais could hardly have imagined a worse start.
Ollie Robinson trapped the Pakistan opener LBW with the very first delivery of the Test.
It was a superb delivery from Robinson, but for Pakistan, losing an opener before the match had even properly started immediately put the batting order under pressure.
The dismissal also carried historical significance. Awais became only the second Pakistan opener to be dismissed from the first delivery of a Test match.
His problems continued in the second innings.
With Pakistan already facing a massive first-innings deficit, the openers needed to survive the new ball and give the middle order some breathing space.
That did not happen.
Jofra Archer dismissed Imam-ul-Haq early before Awais was caught at leg slip by Joe Root.
Opening the batting in England is never easy. The ball moves, the conditions can change quickly and the first 15-20 overs can decide the direction of an innings.
That is exactly why Pakistan needed their openers to absorb pressure and make the ball older.
Awais could not provide that platform in either innings.
3. Saud Shakeel – Experience Did Not Help Pakistan
Saud Shakeel is another player who will have to take responsibility for this defeat.
Pakistan expect much more from him because he is no longer an inexperienced batter trying to understand Test cricket.
Shakeel has built his reputation as one of Pakistan’s important middle-order players. But his technique and approach against England’s seamers did not provide the resistance his team desperately needed.
He struggled to deal with the movement and never looked settled for long enough to change the course of the innings.
This is where experienced batters have to find a way.
You do not necessarily have to dominate in English conditions. Sometimes Test batting is about leaving deliveries, defending for long periods and forcing the bowlers into their second or third spells.
Pakistan needed someone to bat ugly if necessary.
Shakeel could not do that.
England captain Joe Root also deserves credit for his dismissal in the second innings. Root moved Dan Lawrence into an unusual backward square-leg position, and Shakeel then clipped Josh Tongue straight into the trap.
It summed up the difference between the two sides: England were thinking ahead, while Pakistan were constantly reacting.
4. Imam-ul-Haq – Still Struggling Against Pace and Bounce
Imam-ul-Haq showed some resistance in the first innings, scoring 42.
Alongside Abdullah Shafique, who made 61, he helped Pakistan recover after the nightmare start.
But when you are an experienced opener, getting to 42 is only half the job.
Pakistan needed Imam to turn that start into a big innings.
His problems became more obvious in the second innings when Jofra Archer removed him early. Pakistan were already 238 runs behind and desperately needed a strong opening partnership.
Instead, they lost their first wicket without a run on the board for the second time in the Test.
Imam has enough international experience to understand what is required in these conditions.
The concern is that high-quality pace, bounce and movement continue to create problems for him.
Pakistan have brought him back because they expect stability at the top. A score of 40 in one innings is useful, but it is not enough when the team needs an experienced batter to set the tone for the entire batting order.
5. Mohammad Rizwan – Pakistan Needed Much More
Mohammad Rizwan was Pakistan’s highest scorer in the second innings with 41.
On paper, that might make his inclusion on this list look harsh.
But Pakistan needed much more from a player of his experience.
By the time Rizwan was batting with the lower order, Pakistan were in survival mode. His job was not simply to remain unbeaten for as long as possible. He needed to manage the strike, protect the tail and find a way to extend the innings.
There were moments when his strike management could have been better.
When you are the recognised batter batting with bowlers, particularly against a high-quality pace attack in England, you have to take as much responsibility as possible.
Rizwan has played enough Test cricket to know how to handle such situations.
His 41 was Pakistan’s best score of the second innings, but the team needed a 70, 80 or perhaps a century from him to have any realistic chance of making England bat again.
That innings never came.
Robinson and Tongue Completely Destroy Pakistan’s Batting
Pakistan’s batters were not simply poor. England’s fast bowlers were also excellent.
Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue destroyed Pakistan in the first innings.
Robinson finished with 5 for 51, while Tongue took 5 for 46 as Pakistan were bowled out for just 171.
Abdullah Shafique’s 61 and Imam’s 42 were the only substantial contributions.
England then showed Pakistan exactly how to bat in the conditions.
Harry Brook scored 91, Jordan Cox made 73, Joe Root contributed 66 and Dan Lawrence scored 51 as England piled up 409.
Pakistan did have one major positive with the ball.
Ali Usman claimed five wickets and was easily one of their better performers. However, England still established a massive 238-run first-innings lead.
Pakistan’s Biggest Problem Was Their Attitude
This is the biggest point from the entire Test.
Losing happens.
Getting bowled out cheaply in England happens.
Even some of the best Asian batting line-ups have struggled badly when the Dukes ball starts moving.
But supporters can accept defeat much more easily when they see their team fighting.
Pakistan did not show enough of that fight.
They needed batters willing to spend two hours at the crease without worrying about the scoreboard. They needed bowlers to keep attacking even after England took the lead. They needed fielders to take every opportunity that came their way.
Most importantly, they needed their captain and senior players to set the tone.
That was missing.
Abdullah Shafique and Ali Usman Among Few Positives
Not everything was negative for Pakistan.
Abdullah Shafique deserves credit for his 61 in the first innings. In difficult conditions and with wickets falling around him, he showed that runs were possible with the right approach.
Ali Usman was another clear positive.
The spinner took five wickets in England’s innings and kept working even when Pakistan’s seamers were struggling to create sustained pressure.
Those individual performances, however, could not cover the failures elsewhere.
Test cricket requires contributions across the team, particularly when playing away from home.
Pakistan Need More Than Team Changes Before Second Test
There will naturally be calls to make changes after such a heavy defeat.
Salman Ali Agha, Azan Awais, Saud Shakeel, Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan will all face questions after their performances at Headingley.
But simply dropping players will not solve everything.
Pakistan need a change in approach.
The second Test at Lord’s will bring another difficult challenge. If Pakistan go there with the same body language and the same inability to absorb pressure, changing two or three names in the XI will make little difference.
The five Pakistan players who failed against England have to take responsibility, but this was ultimately a collective failure.
England were better with the bat, better with the ball, sharper in the field and tactically superior.
Pakistan now need to show that the first Test was an extremely bad performance rather than an indication of how the rest of this series will unfold.
More than anything else, they need to fight.