England's "fragile top-order" is an area of its game that the visiting Pakistan side will definitely look to exploit during the upcoming Test series, said skipper Azhar Ali.
Azhar believes the hosts' batting line-up has weakened significantly after the retirement of Sir Alastair Cook, still England's highest Test run-maker.
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"Looking at their batting, their top-order has been fragile for some time since Alastair Cook retired," said Azhar before departing for the UK on Sunday (June 28). "They have tried a lot of combinations lately and might be looking a bit more settled, but they haven’t been really confident with it. So there is something for us in it to look at."
For Pakistan, the major challenge would still be to put runs on the board in those conditions while facing the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer & co.
"Their bowling attack is brilliant in their own conditions and there is no doubt about it," Azhar said. "Other than Jofra Archer we have faced all of them – Broad, Anderson, Woakes, Stokes and even Wood was there, but we have still won against them."
Pakistan's own bowling attack looks short of experience, certainly from the last trip in 2018. But in bowlers such as Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, there is definitely no shortage of talent.
"In terms of the number of games, of course, England have tons of experience in their bowling. But we have the skills: they (our bowlers) are young and have a lot to offer," said Azhar.
"They can give trouble to any team in the world. In a very short time, they have achieved a lot and that is a good sign."
"You can’t buy experience immediately, and for that, you obviously have to play more, but then we have a very experienced coaching staff with Waqar Younis and Mushtaq Ahmed. Their expertise and knowledge can be utilised and they will be helping them," he added.
The visitors landed in Manchester on Monday (June 29) with their 20-man playing party and 11 support staff personnel, who will be going through a quarantine period of 14 days in Worcester before moving to Derbyshire ahead of the first Test.
The entire three-Test and three-T20I visit, the dates and venues for which haven't yet been officially announced, will be conducted in a bio-secure bubble and in adherence with the highest safety protocols due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
(Inputs from PTI)
