Pakistan had set England a tricky target 277, but despite reducing them to 106-4 – including the key wickets of Joe Root and Ben Stokes – the visitors succumbed to a three-wicket defeat, after Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes put on a 139-run stand.

Azhar’s captaincy has been blamed for that, with accusations that he wasn’t aggressive enough, especially to England’s No.7 Chris Woakes, whose 84* changed the game. Azhar was also considered to have missed a trick in not unleashing Naseem Shah on Woakes, who seemed troubled by the short ball in the first innings.

“I would have wanted more out of them in that situation, because they all have gone through such games in their careers,” Raja told Mumbai Mirror. “When you’ve got a captain who is not in great form, the coaching staff has to be more proactive. Also, they get good perspective sitting outside.

“England were allowed to take easy singles, close to 40 singles were taken by Buttler and Woakes through point. No one told Azhar Ali or Yasir Shah to plug that gap. I was frustrated with the field set-up. The bouncer was not tried. The strategy needed a revisit, which didn’t happen unfortunately.”

The second Test will start in Southampton on Thursday.