There may have been positives through the summer, but ahead of the third and final Test against Pakistan from August 21, England captain Joe Root admitted his team still has many holes to cover up if it is to become a consistently brilliant side in a varying set of conditions. 

England being perhaps the only major country that seemed to lose home Tests in this era, went down to West Indies in Southampton in the opening match of the pandemic-curtailed summer. 

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And while since the team has been able to pull off three wins out of four Tests, including the nerve-wrecker versus Pakistan in Manchester with the other being a draw, there is a general feeling that if there is a side against whom the visiting team could still recover and draw the series it is this Root-led one, something the skipper himself is deep down aware of. 

But it isn't that Root thinks his team's home results will continue not inspiring great confidence and will take a massive dip when it travels abroad. 

"We know we are not the finished article, we know we have challenges and hurdles to overcome, and things we need to get better at if we want to be the number one team in the world," Root told reporters. "But I can certainly see this group of players going on to do that."

"We have got a great group of bowlers now that we feel cover a number of different surfaces and challenges wherever we go in the world. That is an exciting place to be," he added. 

At home, bowling's not such a headache, but England's batting has struggled, failing to put scores consistently in excess of 300. 

"With the competition that is there, people have to keep proving their worth in the team. That is not just the bowlers, but the batters as well. We need to make sure we are driving the standards up all the time," Root said. 

Looking at the immediate task on hand to try and not let Pakistan go back unscathed from UK once again with regards to the Test series fortunes, the skipper said the final XI will be decided on the morning of the Test only. 

The attention will be given to whether a spinner is at all required, given the fact that Dom Bess has hardly been used in the previous two Tests. 

"We have not settled on an XI yet, it is so hard to tell with that wicket right now," Root said. "It has been mostly undercover for the last week, and with the sun finally out and a bit of wind, it could change drastically over the course of today."

"So we want to keep everything on the table and then make a strong call tomorrow."

(Inputs from Reuters)