Realistically, Pakistan's performance in less than two days of Test cricket could not be defended, and their stand-in captain Salman Agha did not attempt to do so. He acknowledged that Pakistan had been "outplayed in every department" and that their Test record indicated that they had not been performing well "anywhere in the world." "Bowling, batting and fielding - England outplayed us," Agha said. "We were not consistent enough in any department. In England, consistency is important because there is lateral movement here, so you must be focused at all times. That was missing. And we think that missing consistency is what resulted in this performance." In point of fact, Pakistan consistently underwhelmed, literally from the very first ball, when Ollie Robinson caught opener Azan Awais in the face to propel the Test forward. The first time, they were bowled out in 50 overs, and England took what seemed to be an unassailable 238-run lead thanks to subpar bowling and sloppy fielding. England's second innings victory, which resulted in a resounding innings victory, took even less time to complete. "Better than Pakistan all three days," as Agha put it. The level of performance here was a stark reality check, even by Pakistan's recent Test cricket standards. None of the batters appeared to show a level of staying power at the crease that bodes well for the remainder of the series, and even the mitigation of Babar Azam's absence didn't feel like it assuaged those concerns. It took England 514 balls to take 20 Pakistan wickets; on only four instances have sides dismissed Pakistan quicker. To boot, Pakistan's seam bowling attack was every bit as one-paced as feared, while an especially dismal showing in the field deepened the pathos of this side. Agha tried to account for it all by suggesting Pakistan didn't have enough time to acclimatise in England ahead of the tour. He stated, "An England tour is challenging for any Pakistan team." "We entered it from totally different circumstances. It's not like we came here a month ago; we only came here a week ago. You may have seen a gulf in these sides. "But when any Asian team comes here, they struggle early on. These conditions are not such you can adapt to within a week. But we're trying, and you'll see in the next game we'll turn in a better performance." Pakistan arrived in England 12 days before the first day in Headingley. During that time, they won a three-day practice match in Beckenham against a select XI by seven wickets. Before the Test, Sarfaraz Ahmed had said Pakistan were feeling very confident and had "all bases covered with bat and ball". None of that translated to what transpired at Headingley. It doomed Pakistan to their 14th Test defeat in their last 19 matches, and their ninth in the last ten away games. Agha stated, "We're not playing well away." "We haven't done well anywhere in the world. This is concerning. We do talk about that in every meeting we have. Even outside of official team meetings. We are attempting." The only silver lining came in the form of Babar's improving prognosis as he recovers from a finger injury, with Agha joking he was "more than happy" to return the captaincy to him after his tough induction to the role. "He's our best batter and one of the best batters in the world. We definitely want to have him and hand him the captaincy." The gloom, though, returned as Agha spoke of Pakistan's limited options with their seam attack. The visitors went with three medium-fast bowlers, who often struggled to exploit helpful overhead conditions, and there were two big century stands in the England innings, producing a combined yield of 270 runs. Ubaid Shah and Aamer Jamal, a fast-bowling all-rounder, are Pakistan's other seam options. Ubaid is the quickest bowler on the tour but lacks experience. He only made his debut against West Indies last month, though his average speeds were higher than anyone else in the Pakistan camp. "If you have pace, it's good for any conditions. You will unquestionably include a bowler who can bowl over 140 mph on your team. We don't have bowlers who can hit 140 consistently." On the evidence of Leeds, it is one of many things Pakistan don't have. Additionally, they are running out of road to summon them in time for the second Test at Lord's, which is less than a week away.