Pakistan Cricket Broad (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has hailed England's record-breaking batting display as "breathtaking" after they racked up 657 in their first innings in Rawalpindi.
England became their first team in history to score at more than a run a ball in the first innings of a Test match, with Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook all scoring magnificent centuries.
And Raja was full of praise for the "new fearless approach" England have adopted under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, describing it as both "different and breathtaking". Speaking to BBC Test Match Special, Raja said: "This new fearless approach.
"This is what the new England means. They were looking for action from ball number one. They are setting a new platform, a new tone.
"I wasn't expecting this as they had four debutants and in any Test match the first half an hour is usually the bowlers, regardless of the pitch. But it was different and breathtaking."
Stokes and McCullum have got England playing a more positive and aggressive brand of Test cricket and the players are enjoying the freedom they have been afforded by the new regime. "We really listened to what Baz [McCullum] and Stokesy have said," Ollie Pope said after scoring 108 off 104 balls.
"The best thing is everyone has lived by how the two guys up top want us to play. They want us to entertain people.
"It is not about milestones. It is about putting on a show and putting the team in a good position. The fact everyone is so happy to buy into that puts us in a really good place."
Fellow centurion Duckett, who has been recalled to the Test team after a six-year absence, added: "I don't think there will ever be a better environment to be involved in. I am sure there will be lots of cricketers desperate to be in this dressing room and I was one of them last summer. They allow you to play your game and play with freedom."
