Three key men for Pakistan v England in the UAE

As England prepare for their Autumn trip to the UAE they will leave behind green seaming wickets to be replaced by slow dusty tracks, where patience and mental strength will be of the utmost importance.

They will face a determined Pakistan team who have performed strongly in test cricket over the past 12 months with test series victories over Australia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Here are 3 key players for England to watch;

1. Younis Khan

The most experienced member of the Pakistan team will look to lead by example in the upcoming series, using his 101 test matches worth of knowledge to assist a fairly inexperienced Pakistan team. Younis has been in terrific form over the past year, grinding down bowling attacks in the mundane conditions common in the UAE and other sub-continent nations. He was instrumental in Pakistan’s test series victory over Australia in 2014, scoring 468 runs at an average of 156 in the two match series. He was quick to capitalise on the Australian pace attack that failed to extract any life out of the turgid wickets and will look to replicate this feat against an England team used to seamer friendly conditions.

Furthermore, Younis has a sensational batting record in the fourth innings of test matches averaging 57.40, with only Geoffrey Boycott and Sunil Gavaskar surpassing this achievement. This record is testament to his temperament as scoring on sub-continental wickets is never easy or free-flowing. It is no secret that Pakistan lack the depth in batting they once had, apart from Younis, only Misbah Ul-Haq could be considered a truly world class batsmen and a great deal of hope rests on their shoulders.