Toss Pakistan chose to bat vs England
Pakistan captain Shan Masood opted to bat on winning the toss in Multan, as his side look to end a winless run on home soil that extends back to 2021. There was still a tinge of green to the surface but on a hot day, with temperatures expected to touch 40C, England’s inexperienced attack will be on a steep learning curve.
“We’ve been in winning positions and not won from there, that’s created some hurt in the camp and the Pakistan cricketing fraternity,” Masood admitted, having been on the losing side in all five Tests since taking on the captaincy late last year. There most recent outing, against Bangladesh in August, ended in a 2-0 home defeat.
England were captained once again by Ollie Pope, with Ben Stokes continuing his rehabilitation from injury. He said he have chosen to bat, too, but added: “Think there’s a little bit of moisture in the pitch so hopefully we can make use of that early.”
Both teams had named their XIs in advance. Pakistan recalled Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, after both were left out of the second Test against Bangladesh, while allrounder Aamer Jamal was fit to return after injury. Abrar Ahmed, who debuted to prolific effect against England two years ago, shoulders spin duties with Salman Ali Agha also able to chip in.
England opted for a cautious approach to Stokes’ fitness, eight weeks after he tore a hamstring playing in the Hundred, meaning a first overseas Test appearance since March 2022 for Chris Woakes. He leads an inexperienced seam attack, with Brydon Carse on debut and Gus Atkinson playing only his seventh Test. Jack Leach, meanwhile, returns for a first outing since being injured on the tour of India last winter, after which he lost the No. 1 spinner’s berth to Somerset team-mate Shoaib Bashir.
Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Ali Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Shaheen Afridi, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Abrar Ahmed.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (capt), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
