Pakistan vs England: Matthew Potts says Multan pitch is flatter than expected

“It hasn’t had as many demons as perhaps we have thought,” said Potts of the pitch.

“We’ve seen a couple scuttle low but on the whole, it’s been OK. It’s on the slow side, but it’s been alright.”

According to data analysts Cricviz, the pitch for the second Test was the third most-difficult on which to bat of all opening-day surfaces in 17 matches since Test cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019.

Still, that is not unusual. In the same time period, only Sri Lanka has more difficult day-one pitches than Pakistan (data from India is not available).

Ayub said: “Some balls were keeping low so it was difficult to bat. You can see the pitch was slow and turning, double-paced with the fast bowlers.”

The 29-year-old Ghulam added: “It was as difficult pitch to bat on. Sometimes the ball kept low, sometimes it would turn.”

England’s day might have been better had an edge from Mohammad Rizwan off the bowling of Potts been detected.

The tourists opted not to review and Rizwan, on six at the time, remains unbeaten on 37.

“There was a half-decent noise going past the bat,” said the 25-year-old Potts, who is playing in his first overseas Test.

“The guys in front of the bat heard the noise and the guys behind didn’t hear anything. If you’re unsure about it, it’s probably right to remain on the other side.

“It’s never nice, little things like that when you’re working hard out there, but we’ve created chances throughout the day and we’ll create chances tomorrow as well.”