LAHORE: As Pakistan look to take on England in the three-match Test series, the national team on Sunday announced its playing XI for the first match which begins at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday (tomorrow).
Speaking at a press conference, captain Shan Masood said: “This is our best playing XI… The inclusion of Aamir Jamal will be beneficial. We have maintained our batting line-up for ensure consistency.”
The three-match series is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 and will see the Men in Green consider a return to the longer format of the game after suffering a humiliating whitewash against Bangladesh last month.
Expressing his views on the upcoming match, Masood said the visitors – who recorded a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka in September – had a balanced team and stressed the need to play strong cricket on the land.
Addressing England skipper Ben Stokes’ unavailability in the first Test, the captain said: “Stokes’ absence will definitely affect England, but their playing XI is still strong, he is one of the best versatile players of the world.”
“England has good tailors,” he remarked.
“We have almost lost in the past (…) A test match is a five-day match, so we cannot have just one strategy,” he added, stressing that a rotation policy must be introduced depending on the workload. management regarding fast bowlers.
Conditions to help spinners, seamers
Meanwhile, expressing his views, England captain Ollie Pope said that the conditions were different in Multan and it would help the spinners and seamers.
“It will be interesting to see how the pitch plays out… The (team’s) plan depends on the pitch and will be developed accordingly,” he said while speaking to the media.
Noting that England’s bowlers will try to get as many wickets as possible in these conditions, Pope stressed the importance of consistency in the spinners’ performance.
“We have two regular players which means we may not have to test Joe Root’s skills (in the bowling department),” he added.
“The Pakistan team, although they have not played well recently, are nevertheless a tough team (and) with bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, we have to play good cricket,” remarked the England captain .
Playing XIs for the first test
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir