Pakistan were humiliated in the first Test and were pulverized by the English batsmen conceding 823-7. It was their sixth consecutive Test loss and extended the winless home run to eleven games.

The response was extreme. An expanded selection committee dropped superstar batsman Babar Azam and pace bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. The decision to recycle the pitch from the first Test was unusual but not illegal. Because of this and the fact that the team had three specialist spinners, so much depended on Pakistan winning the toss.

That doesn’t mean this game was decided by a coin toss. Kamran Ghulam filled Babar’s shoes with a fine debut hundred, while the charismatic Sajid and precise Noman tirelessly probed the English batsmen.

Given the circumstances, England should be able to cope with this defeat without any problems.

Still, they had their moments. They reached 211-2 in reply to Pakistan’s 366 thanks to a good century from Ben Duckett. Parity in the first innings would have given them a great chance, so to then be bowled out for 291 is disappointing on any pitch.

Then, on the third afternoon, they had the opportunity to limit their eventual chase, only for wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and Joe Root to squander clear chances off Salman Agha in the same over from Brydon Carse. Salman was in single figures at the time and his 63 left the result beyond doubt.

The space used was made possible by the first two Tests being played at the same venue, so the move to Rawalpindi represents at least an element of novelty.

But given this result, England should probably brace themselves for more fuss and have a week to think about their strategy.