Gillespie also defended Shan Masood, who is under pressure after losing all five of his matches as Test captain, with Pakistan also losing 3-0 to Australia last December under his leadership.

“Shan has got a very clear plan on how the Test side should play and we are completely aligned on that,” the 49-year-old said.

“There are things people don’t see and I’ve been really impressed by his communication with the players and how he’s gone about doing his job.”

Gillespie and Masood will have the chance to reverse a poor run of results when they face Brendon McCullum’s England in back-to-back Tests in Multan, with the second beginning on 15 October before the final Test in Rawalpindi starts on 24 October.

“I think we match up well against England. It’s going to be a challenging series. We know we are probably the underdogs, but we are excited to show what we can do,” Gillespie added.