"When You Go To India, Sri Lanka...": England Coach Brendon McCullum Points Out Missed Trick After Pakistan Loss

Brendon McCullum, England's head coach, accepted his team's “missed opportunity” after Pakistan sealed a 2-1 series victory with decisive spin-friendly tactics in Multan and Rawalpindi. McCullum remained magnanimous but acknowledged that his side, despite a historic 800-plus first-innings total in the opener, faltered as Pakistan overhauled their lineup and capitalized on turn-heavy pitches. Following a ruthless innings win on Multan's flat deck, Pakistan, with a refreshed selection panel, introduced spinning surfaces that saw Sajid Khan and Noman Ali share 39 out of 40 English wickets.

Their bowling transformed the series, dismantling England for just 814 runs across four innings, turning the tide sharply in Pakistan's favour.

"Credit to Pakistan, the way that those two spinners bowled was superb," McCullum told Sky Sports. "I thought they varied the pace beautifully. Noman from one end, taking pace off most of the time with the occasional fast one, and Sajid flipping that around and putting pace on with the occasional slow one. I thought was great partnership bowling. And our guys weren't able to sustain the pressure, unfortunately."

"When teams come to England, ideally we play on the surfaces that we're more accustomed to, which allow our strengths to really flourish and maybe paper over some of the weaknesses as well, which every team naturally has," said McCullum.

England's batting struggles, notably those of Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, and Harry Brook, revealed a lack of adaptability under pressure. Brook, after shining in the first Test, faltered with a high score of 26 in the last four innings.

"I'm a little bit surprised it's taken Pakistan as long as it has. Because when you go to Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh,