Captain Ben Stokes has returned to action for the second test of England’s tour of Pakistan after recovering from the hamstring injury he sustained during The Hundred 2024.
Due to the injury, Ben Stokes missed three match test series against Sri Lanka at home and the first test match against Pakistan. The 33-year-old had played in a three-match test series against West Indies which the side won a clean sweep 3-0 in July.
Ben Stokes and Matt Potts are the two changes made from the first test. Potts’ made his comeback after the appearance he made in Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka in August. Meanwhile, the seamers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes were rested.
⬅️ Gus Atkinson
⬅️ Chris Woakes➡️ Matt Potts
➡️ Ben StokesFull focus on securing the series win 👊 pic.twitter.com/wUU8gD6q4g
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 14, 2024
England secured a stunning victory by an innings and 47 runs in the first test against Pakistan. The clash at Multan saw a total of 1593 runs scored across three innings with the fall of 27 wickets.
Pakistan scored 556 runs in the first innings, and England scored 823/7 including Joe Root’s double century and Harry Brook’s triple century. Pakistan were dismissed for 220 runs in their second innings where Jack Leach picked a four-wicket haul in the end to secure a victory for the side.
England’s Playing 11: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir
Meanwhile, Pakistan has made notable changes in their squad when they face England in the second test.
Players like Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi have been rested along with Naseem Shah for the remaining tests.
Leading the series 1-0, England and Pakistan will be playing their second test starting on October 15 at Multan Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd England tests: Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood.
