The England test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the first test against Pakistan as he continues to recover from the injury he picked up during The Hundred 2024.
Meanwhile, Ollie Pope will continue as stand-in captain for the first test which is set to begin next week. The uncapped player, Brydon Carse has been added to England playing 11 for the first Pakistan test.
Stokes has been struggling with the injury and could not recover his fitness before the first Pakistan test. After missing the entire series against Sri Lanka, concerns have been raised on his return over the highly anticipated clash against Pakistan.
The 33-year-old missed England’s recent 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka with vice-captain Ollie Pope stepping up to lead the side in his absence. With England’s playing 11 announced for the Pakistan series, Pope has been named as the captain and he will try to imitate the series win against Pakistan.
We have announced our XI for the first Test against Pakistan in Multan 📝
🇵🇰 #PAKvENG 🏴 | #EnglandCricket 🦁
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 5, 2024
“With England Captain Ben Stokes still recovering from a hamstring tear, Ollie Pope will captain the side in his absence,” England’s statement said.
Despite participating in the training sessions, Stokes has been careful with both bat and ball, raising doubts about his fitness level.
Stokes hinted that he might not be able to bowl at the beginning of the series. Though there was optimism about his participation it became that he hadn’t yet reached full match fitness, prompting the decision to rest him for the first test.
Stokes originally sustained a hamstring injury on August 11 while playing for the Northern Superchargers due to which he was ruled out for the rest of the summer.
England Playing 11 for the Pakistan test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
