MANCHESTER: As the three-match Test series inches closer, both England and Pakistan will be looking to grab the key World Test Championship (WTC) points which will help move them up on the points table.
England and Pakistan currently hold the third and fifth spot on the WTC points table with 226 and 140 points respectively. The table is topped by India with 360 points.
England moved up to the third position after the series against the West Indies and could potentially leapfrog Australia to second place if they managed to overpower Pakistan.
Whereas, Pakistan have a chance of overtaking New Zealand to claim the fourth position on the table.
The hosts, England, won the three-match Test series against West Indies by 2-1. Apart from that, England drew a five-match series against Australia 2-2 and won a four-match series against South Africa 3-1.
Pakistan lost both matches of a two-Test series to Australia, beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in a two-match series and won their first match against Bangladesh at home, with another Test due on a subsequent leg postponed due to Covid-19.
Each series of the WTC is worth 120 points, distributed evenly over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.
In addition, players from each side will be aiming to progress in the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings. Pakistan captain Azhar Ali and vice-captain Babar Azam will be among the players in focus for Pakistan.
Azhar, presently 27th among batsmen, will be hoping to regain the form that lifted him to sixth in December 2016, while Babar will be hoping to progress from a career-best aggregate of 800 rating points. Babar is currently sixth after having occupied a career-high fifth place in February.
For England, Stokes displaced West Indies captain Jason Holder from the top of the all-rounders' list during their last series and formerly top-ranked Stuart Broad rose to the third position in the bowlers' list, currently led by Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins.
Stokes is also England's top-ranked batsman in the fourth position, with captain Joe Root (ninth) and opener Rory Burns (17th) their next batsmen on the list.
The first Test between England and Pakistan will commence on Wednesday.