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Dubai: Spin-weary England will be desperate to avoid the humiliation of a series whitewash against Pakistan in the third and final Test which starts at Dubai Stadium on Friday.
Andrew Strauss's men, pulverised by Pakistan spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman, are also in danger of losing their world number one spot after a dismal 10-wicket defeat in Dubai and the 72-run capitulation in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan have never inflicted a Test series whitewash on England, who topped the Test rankings in August last year with an unbeaten nine series sequence, but have seen 34 of their 40 wickets tumble on tour to Pakistan's spinners.
Off-spinner Ajmal has led the destruction with 17 scalps while left-armer Rehman has claimed 12 wickets and Mohammad Hafeez five.
England need to win to guarantee their top spot on April 1 -- the cut-off date for a $175,000 award to the side sitting at the top of the ICC Test championship table.
But their celebrated batting order has so far failed to answer the challenge laid down by Pakistan's wily spinners.
Jonathan Trott (141 in four innings) tops their batting chart, while Andrew Strauss (68) and Alastair Cook (109) have failed to provide strong starts.
Key batsmen Kevin Pietersen (17 in four innings), Ian Bell (36) and Eoin Morgan (41) have also struggled to cope with the slower ball as England lost the first Test in three days and the second in four.
The tourists will resist the temptation of replacing Morgan with Ravi Bopara whose last Test innings was a 44 not out, against India at The Oval.
Speaking after the Abu Dhabi defeat Strauss said his chastened team needed to bounce back after two dismal performances.
The defeats have left no doubt about England's vulnerability to the slow ball on sub continental wickets, a weakness they will need to address before tours to Sri Lanka and India later in the year.
Pakistan are chasing the whitewash as they look to climb the Test rankings and captain Misbah-ul Haq has vowed his team will be going for the jugular in Dubai.
Pakistan may consider replacing left-arm seamer Junaid Khan with Wahab Riaz, who has been part of the squad without taking the field.
Teams from
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Adnan Akmal (wk), Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Talha, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Taufeeq Umar, Umar Gul, Umar Akmal, Younis Khan, Wahab Riaz.
England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Davies, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Graham Onions, Matt Prior (wk), Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, Tim Bresnan.
Pitch & condtions:
The Dubai Stadium pitch, which provided help to spinners from the first day of the opening Test, is likely to continue its assistance to slow bowlers.
Match facts
February 3-7, 2012
Start time 1000 local (0600 GMT)
