“Bring on the Ashes next year”: Mark Waugh thrilled for The Ashes 2023 as fearless England register famous Test victory vs Pakistan in Rawalpindi

A half-an-hour block-fest off the bats of Naseem Shah (6 off 46) and Mohammad Ali (0* off 26) for the tenth wicket could not prevent Pakistan from keeping at bay a 74-run defeat against England during the first Test match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

In what was a win for the ages for the visitors, who are going through one of the best phases across formats this year, their famous ‘Bazball’ approach yet again paid dividends despite not fielding a fierce bowling attack especially on the docile Rawalpindi pitch.

Still requiring another five wickets on the final session of the match, England’s two lone frontline pacers in James Anderson (24-12-36-4) and Ollie Robinson (22-6-50-4) made lives difficult for the Pakistan batters by managing to extract significant reverse swing, before spinner Jack Leach ultimately got rid of the stubborn Naseem Shah at the crease, to register only their third Test match victory against Pakistan in Pakistan.

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In what was England’s first Test on Pakistan soil after 17 long years, their skipper Ben Stokes in fact went on to hail today’s victory as “one of England’s greatest away wins”.

Mark Waugh thrilled for The Ashes 2023

Former Australian skipper Mark Waugh took to his social media handle to sing praises for the coach-captain duo of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, whose bold declaration on ‘Day 4’ paved the way for England’s victory, despite them not fielding a full strength bowling attack and also providing the hosts with a wonderful opportunity to chase 343 runs on a batting paradise in as many as four sessions in hand.

Hailing the duo for their “courageous, fearless positive mindset”, Waugh went on to exclaim that no other team in World Cricket would have had the audacity to go for a win, with the risk of losing it after posting a record-shattering 657 runs on the scoreboard during the first innings.

He finally expects for a tantalizing battle for The Ashes 2023 urn, which will take place in England next year in the months of June and July.

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