Birmingham, September 8, 2026: England captain Joe Root has rejected suggestions that Pakistan have shown “no fight” in the ongoing Test series, calling the claim disrespectful to both teams ahead of the third and final Test at Edgbaston.
England go into the match, starting Wednesday, with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series following comprehensive victories at Headingley and Lord’s.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made sweeping changes after the second Test, sending seven players home and removing Test head coach Sarfraz Ahmed. White-ball head coach Mike Hesson was subsequently given charge of the Test side.
Seven players have since been added to Pakistan’s squad, including five yet to make their Test debuts.
During his pre-match press conference at Edgbaston on Tuesday, Root was asked about facing an opponent offering “no fight”, with Pakistan yet to score 200 in any of their four innings in the series against England’s pace attack.
“Absolutely we have found Pakistan a challenge,” he said.
“I think that’s a bit disrespectful to both Pakistan as a team and to us as a team. I don’t think we’ve allowed them to get into games because of how well we’ve played as well and how quickly we’ve read the situations and the surfaces that we’ve had.”
England won the first Test by an innings and 103 runs before securing a 194-run victory at Lord’s.
Root, who has returned as England’s full-time captain following Ben Stokes’ shock retirement from international cricket, said it was simplistic to portray one side as excellent and the other as poor.
“I think it’s very easy to say one team is excellent and one team is poor. Normally it’s somewhere in the middle,” he said.
“If one team has been outstanding then the other team can’t have been poor and vice versa. I think it’s important to live in that middle area somewhere and understand that that’s not how it is.”
Despite England’s dominant performances in the opening two Tests, Root warned his side not to underestimate a Pakistan team featuring several new faces.
“Regardless of what’s happened over the last two games, this week it’s a completely different proposition for us,” he said.
“There’s a very talented group of players in that dressing room and you’ve got to be ready for it, so we’ll make sure that we are.”
