Difficulty here in Multan are going to be the short days - Michael Atherton

Former captain turned commentator Michael Atherton thinks that bad light and fog could make the second Test between Pakistan and England in Multan last for four days.

It is important to remember that the provincial government has issued a fog notice for the upcoming days, which could reduce the amount of playing time.

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“The great difficulty here in Multan are going to be the short days. It goes dark as it did in Pindi in the evenings, and we are getting fog here in the morning, so we can expect a delayed start,” Atherton said.

“So, if you know off a bit at the start and knock off a bit at the end, you are probably going to lose a day. So, it is essentially going to be a four-day Test match. Will that be enough time to force a result? We shall see,” he added.

Atherton also clarified England's strategy for the second Test against Pakistan, which begins on December 9th.

“I think England will try and go hard again, and they probably have to if we are losing a day. Will they think about batting just once in the Test match? Will they think about bowling first? We can’t discount anything with Ben Stokes in charge,” he said.

“He [Stokes] really wants to forget about convention and tradition and tear up the rule book and do it his way. Whatever he thinks is England’s best route to victory, he will go down that route even if it means using fairly unorthodox and non-traditional methods,” he added.