MULTAN: Sajid Khan and Noman Ali are as different as chalk and cheese but they gelled perfectly as they tore through England’s batting to give Pakistan a long-awaited Test win.
The spin pair took all 20 wickets on a worn, turning, Multan track for a 152-run win to set up a third Test winner-takes-all showdown at Rawalpindi starting on Thursday.
Left-armer Noman, 38, is the senior partner of a pair who have played together in eight Tests.
“We bowled with a lot of confidence and his energy is always very high,” Noman told AFP about his partner, off-spinner Sajid.
“Our plan was to keep it simple. We knew the England batsman would attack, so we were not distracted and kept it simple,” he said in written comments to AFP.
“This feat will go a long way in establishing our pairing. To get 20 wickets between us is an honor and it happens very rarely.”
The win is Pakistan’s first at home since they beat South Africa in Rawalpindi three years and eight months ago.
Noman took a career best 8-46 as England were 144 all out chasing 297 to win.
But it was Sajid who set the platform with 7-111 in the first innings to give Pakistan a crucial 75-run lead.
Noman finished with match figures of 11-147 and Sajid 9-204.
They became the seventh pair of bowlers to take all 20 wickets in a Test, and the first since Australia’s Dennis Lillee and Bob Massie against England in 1972.
Sajid cuts a dashing figure on the field, frequently twiddling his immaculately groomed moustache and celebrating a wicket with an exuberant thigh slap that has become his signature.
“I followed my father in keeping a moustache,” Sajid told AFP of his late father, who had served in the military.
“(Former Australia batsman) David Warner once said he was frightened of my moustache,” he added.
Former Pakistan left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim believes that Noman and Sajid complement each other perfectly.
“Spin gives us the winning formula which we were not using,” said Qasim who took 171 wickets in 50 Tests for Pakistan.
“Noman and Sajid have matured with experience and can continue to give home wins like this.”
It is too early to compare the pair to India’s spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who jointly have over 800 wickets.
Thirty-seven years ago, Qasim partnered Tauseef Ahmed for 18 wickets as Pakistan won in Bangalore for a first series win over arch-rivals India.
Off-spinner Ahmed, who took 93 wickets for Pakistan, said the pair had “bowled extraordinarily” well in the win over England, after Pakistan’s new selection committee decided to pick only one seam bowler.
“The previous set-up did not have belief in spinners and that’s why we were not using our home advantage,” said Ahmed
The series finale starts in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
Sajid, Noman ‘keep it simple’ for perfect mix to put England in spin
https://arab.news/chnah
Sajid, Noman ‘keep it simple’ for perfect mix to put England in spin
- The spin pair took all 20 wickets on a worn, turning, Multan track for a 152-run win to set up a third Test winner-takes-all showdown
- The victory against England was Pakistan’s first at home since they beat South Africa in Rawalpindi three years and eight months ago
Pakistan, ADB reaffirm commitment to ML-1 rail project amid economic reforms
- Flagship railway upgrade tied to IMF-backed stabilization, multilateral financing
- ADB, World Bank working with Pakistan to address project delays, readiness gaps
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the long-delayed Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway modernization project, a flagship infrastructure upgrade central to the country’s economic reform and connectivity agenda, the information ministry said on Thursday.
The renewed focus on ML-1 follows meetings this week between senior Pakistani ministers and ADB officials in Islamabad, as the government seeks to revive large-scale infrastructure investment while maintaining fiscal discipline under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
ML-1 is Pakistan Railways’ busiest north–south corridor, linking the southern port city of Karachi with major population and industrial centers in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project aims to modernize tracks, signaling and rolling stock to improve safety, cut travel times and lower transport costs.
Originally envisioned as a flagship transport upgrade under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), ML-1 has struggled to reach financial close amid cost concerns, debt sustainability debates and implementation challenges. Pakistan has since sought broader multilateral engagement, with institutions including the Asian Development Bank now playing a central role in project structuring, financing discussions and efforts to address execution bottlenecks.
During a meeting with Leah Gutierrez, Director General for Central and West Asia at the ADB, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema underscored the government’s reform priorities and the importance of the project’s timely execution.
“The Minister underscored the Government’s strong commitment to the timely implementation of the Main Line–1 (ML-1) railways project and emphasized that ADB’s continued support would be critical to achieving this milestone,” the information ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Cheema also highlighted coordination with provincial governments and welcomed joint efforts by the ADB and the World Bank to identify implementation bottlenecks and improve project readiness to ensure timely disbursements.
Gutierrez commended Pakistan’s reform agenda and acknowledged the government’s focus on macroeconomic recovery and fiscal consolidation, reaffirming that ADB teams were working closely with Pakistani authorities on ML-1, according to the statement.
Separately, Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi told Defense Secretary Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ali in a meeting that an agreement for the ML-1 project had been finalized with the ADB and that steps were being taken to move the project forward.
“Concrete steps are being taken to complete the project at the earliest,” the statement quoted Abbasi as telling Ali. “The ML-1 project will serve as a milestone in modernizing Pakistan Railways.”
Abbasi also briefed participants on parallel reform measures at Pakistan Railways, including the launch of an artificial intelligence-based monitoring system at Rawalpindi Railway Station, real-time tracking of trains and rolling stock through digital tagging, and the installation of a weigh bridge in Karachi to address overloading and improve safety.
Pakistan Railways has long struggled with aging infrastructure, safety challenges and financial losses, even as rail transport remains vital for passenger movement and freight. Multilateral lenders have repeatedly stressed the need for stronger execution capacity and governance reforms to translate infrastructure commitments into economic gains.
