Pakistan vs England: A Test of New Beginnings at Edgbaston

The series is gone, the trophy already parked in England’s dressing room, yet the third Test at Edgbaston feels anything but meaningless. One side is fine‑tuning a winning machine. The other has torn up its blueprint.

England stroll into Birmingham 2–0 up, having crushed Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley and by 194 runs at Lord’s. The job is done, the margin emphatic, and Joe Root’s team can treat this as a live training ground for a packed winter.

Pakistan arrive with something closer to a revolution.

Seven players have been sent home. Two coaches have been removed mid-series. A new interim regime is in place. And Babar Azam, restored as captain, walks out with an XI that barely resembles the one that folded at Lord’s.

This is a dead rubber only on paper.

England tweak, not tear down

England’s changes are subtle, but pointed. Brydon Carse is out, dropped from Root’s squad after the incident outside a Derby nightclub during the second Test. The message is clear: standards matter, even when the series is already wrapped up.

On the field, though, the spine remains the same. There is no appetite to dismantle a side that has bullied Pakistan in home conditions.

Ollie Robinson, fresh from match figures of 8 for 80 at Lord’s, is undroppable. Those numbers pushed him past Jasprit Bumrah for the best Test bowling average of any bowler with at least 20 Tests since the First World War. England are not about to rest that kind of weapon when he is purring.

Jofra Archer stays in harness, still building his long-form rhythm but already quick enough and hostile enough to keep Pakistan’s top order hopping. Gus Atkinson completes a seam trio that has offered no breathing space, no easy overs, and no let-up in discipline.

Shoaib Bashir’s off-spin gives Root control and variation. The rest of the side is a familiar, aggressive batting unit designed to score at pace and keep the pressure relentless.

England’s likely XI:

• Ben Duckett
• Emilio Gay
• Jordan Cox
• Joe Root (c)
• Harry Brook
• Dan Lawrence
• Jamie Smith (wk)
• Gus Atkinson
• Ollie Robinson
• Jofra Archer
• Shoaib Bashir

Workloads will be monitored, combinations tested, but the philosophy does not change. England want to win 3–0 and walk into the winter with momentum, not just answers on a spreadsheet.

Pakistan press the reset button

If England are tinkering, Pakistan are detonating.

Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad have all been released from the squad. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul have also been removed from their roles.

Into the vacuum steps Mike Hesson, taking interim charge of the Test side, supported by former Australia seamer Ashley Noffke. Hesson has wasted no time in spelling out what he wants.

“Pakistan is known for the pace, unusual actions, and mystery spin; we haven't really been able to present any of that,” he said. From his perspective, this is about building a balanced squad with genuine variety, not just for Edgbaston, but as a template for what comes next.

The response has been radical. Seven changes. Five uncapped players in the wider squad. A top order reshuffled to the point of near anonymity for English fans.

Babar Azam returns to the captaincy and, crucially, to the top of the order. He is set to open, carrying both the responsibility of stabilising the innings and the burden of symbolising a new direction.

Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, with only eight and two Test caps respectively, step in as recognised top-order options in the broader group, while the XI leans heavily into youth and domestic form.

Two uncapped names stand out as genuine contenders to debut at Edgbaston. Saad Baig, a wicketkeeper-batter and Player of the Tournament in the 2025–26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, has forced his way into the conversation with weight of runs and temperament. Arafat Minhas, a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder, ticks the boxes Hesson has publicly underlined: variety, balance, and the ability to change the texture of an attack.

Left-arm seamer Ubaid Shah and off-spinner Sajid Khan offer further options in that push for diversity in skills and angles.

Pakistan’s likely XI:

• Azan Awais
• Abdullah Shafique
• Saim Ayub
• Babar Azam (c)
• Saud Shakeel
• Saad Baig (wk)
• Mohammad Imran Randhawa
• Arafat Minhas
• Mohammad Ali
• Mohammad Abbas
• Ubaid Shah

Look at that list and it is obvious: this is not a gentle tweak. This is a statement.

Right time for youth – wrong habit of upheaval

On the surface, this is exactly the kind of match to blood new talent. The series is lost. Expectations are low. The downside of exposing Saad Baig or Arafat Minhas to a high-class England attack in tricky conditions is limited. The upside is potentially enormous.

If they cope, Pakistan gain two long-term options in key roles. If they struggle, the experience will still harden them for what lies ahead. In that narrow, cricketing sense, Hesson’s logic is sound.

His diagnosis of Pakistan’s recent failings is also hard to argue with. The tourists have lacked the traditional hallmarks of their best Test sides: raw pace that intimidates, unorthodox actions that unsettle, and spin that carries genuine mystery. A more varied, better-balanced attack is not a luxury; it is a necessity.

The concern lies not in the decision to experiment now, but in the pattern it risks reinforcing.

Seven players axed in one announcement. Two coaches removed mid-series. A captaincy carousel that saw Salman Ali Agha lead in one Test and then vanish from the squad entirely by the next. It paints the picture of a board lurching from headline to headline rather than following a clear, long-term plan.

Edgbaston, then, becomes something of a crossroads. It can be framed as a glimpse of Pakistan’s future: Babar at the helm of a young, fearless core, backed by a bowling unit that finally looks like it belongs to the country’s storied tradition.

But for that future to mean anything, the churn has to stop. The next step matters more than the next XI.

England will treat this as a chance to complete a clean sweep and cement their depth. Pakistan will treat it as a new beginning. Only one of those approaches can afford another reshuffle after this.