Ahead of the series-deciding third Test between Pakistan and England in Rawalpinidi, we look at the big talking points, including the pitch, problems for Ollie Pope, and inexperienced spinner Shoaib Bashir…

What can we expect from the pitch?

Such has been the conjecture over the Rawalpindi pitch in the lead-up, you could almost end this piece here with the solitary talking point.

Images have shown two large fans, six gas-powered heaters and two giant windbreaks on the playing surface, with Pakistan seeking to dry out and wear a pitch notoriously favourable for batting.

“It has been the flattest of flat tracks that you can imagine,” former Pakistan women’s international Urooj Mumtaz said last week.

And in such conditions, Pakistan have failed to win any of their last four Tests at the venue, dating back to Ben Stokes’ side smashing 500-plus on it to open their 2022 tour (more on that in a moment).

England earned a famous win in that Test and also claimed the opening match of this series, winning by an innings on another belting batting track in Multan.

But with Pakistan opting to use that very same surface for the second Test, that flat pitch from a week prior finally started breaking up to assist the hosts’ spinners: Noman Ali and Sajid Khan sharing all 20 England wickets as they earned a convincing 152-run win.

What kind of pitch will be on offer this time round? England certainly think it will turn, selecting three spinners for the first time this series – including leggie Rehan Ahmed – on a surface that visiting captain Stokes says has been “raked”.

“It’s pretty obvious there’s been a few rakes put across it. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I’ve never been a groundsman, but you’d think a rake would assist the spin,” he said.

“You look down it and we can have a pretty good guess which ends the Pakistan spinners will operate from. There’s not too much grass to hold everything together, [with] a couple of days’ traffic on there, foot holes and stuff like that.”

The toss could be all-important with both teams surely hoping not to bat last on the potential dust bowl?

Returning to Rawalpindi

While there is hope – certainly from a Pakistan point of view – that Rawalpindi will offer some turn over the next five days, England’s most recent Test there two years ago was played out on an absolute road as the tourists secured the most remarkable of victories to tee up their 3-0 series sweep.

That match will always be remembered for the record-breaking first day’s play which saw England rack up a staggering 506 runs!

In doing so, they became the first side to score 500 on day one of a Test – England’s 506 also the fifth-highest total all-time on any day’s play and a new record-high in Pakistan, beating 417.

Zak Crawley (122 off 111 balls) cracked the fastest hundred – off 86 balls – by an England opener in Tests, while Ben Duckett (107 off 110), Ollie Pope (108 off 104) and Harry Brook (101no off 81) also notched tons, with the latter’s maiden century briefly threatening Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball and 122-year record for England.

England would eventually make a massive 657 runs in their first innings, but the job was far from done. Pakistan, too, highlighted the placid nature of the pitch, boasting three centurions of their own in captain Babar Azam (136) and openers Imam-ul-Haq (121) and Abdullah Shafique (114) as they replied with a score of 579.

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The 78 in arrears proved plenty for England to work with, however, as the tourists quickly cracked 264 in only 35.5 overs on the fourth afternoon, setting Pakistan 342, which would ultimately prove beyond the home side as James Anderson (4-36) and Ollie Robinson (4-50) spilt eight of the 10 second-innings wickets to fall to see England wrap up a most memorable 74-run victory.

Brilliance of Bashir

Shoaib Bashir’s introduction to Test cricket has been an utterly seamless one ever since being plucked from relative obscurity at just 20 years of age to debut on the tour of India earlier this year – with a impressive haul of 17 wickets, including two five-fors, following over his first three Tests.

Conditions proved more challenging at home this summer, as is to be expected, though there was still plenty of promise shown by the young off-spinner, none more so than when spinning England to victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge with career-best figures of 5-41 in the second innings.

Back in the sub-continent, Bashir’s confidence appeared to take a knock on the flat deck of the first Test in Multan, claiming only one wicket across his 38 overs of toil for the match, and with England’s former front-line spinner, the more experienced option of 33-year-old Jack Leach often handed the ball first out of the two Somerset tweakers.

But there was evidence in the second Test that Bashir was getting back to near his best, with his four second-innings scalps containing Pakistan’s entire top three.

Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain said afterwards: “Bashir bowled beautifully, especially in that session leading up to lunch on day three. The challenge for him still is bowling to right-handers and on a more attacking line. But, you’ve got to remember, he is learning his trade.”

‘Feast or famine’ Pope in need of runs

The Rawalpindi decider could be a crucial game for England vice-captain Pope as questions continued to be asked of his frantic nature at the crease and “feast or famine”, to use Hussain’s phase, batting returns, which have his average at 34.49 after 51 Tests.

Pope struck a sublime 196 early last year in India but then went eight innings without passing fifty. He made three successive fifty-plus score at home to West Indies this summer, only to then muster a best of 17 across his next six knocks.

And now, after hitting 154 in the final home Test of 2024 against Sri Lanka, he has a top-score of 29 in four innings in Pakistan, twice dismissed in the 20s in the second Test – bowled by Sajid Khan driving against the turn first time around and then lobbing a simple catch back to the same bowler in the second.

Writing in the Telegraph recently, former England captain Michael Vaughan said of Pope: “I am not sure he gets those steady scores of around 50 enough. He simply takes too many risks. Every risk he takes looks so high risk, like he could get out at any time.

“You would not put it past him to play brilliantly in Rawalpindi. The worry is that you want calmness and consistency from No 3 and he does not provide that.”

While Pope’s place may not be in immediate jeopardy, we have seen England’s ruthlessness in the past, such as in the decisions to move on from Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Anderson.

If their vice-captain continues in this vein, they may have to make another big call, about his batting position or spot in the side entirely.

Watch the series-deciding third Test between Pakistan and England, in Rawalpinidi, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 5.30am on Thursday (6am first ball.) You can also stream with NOW.