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ToggleThe England Cricket Board (ECB) has declared their playing eleven for the opening Test of the three-match series against Pakistan in Multan, amidst the hard news of their captain Ben Stokes, the premier all-rounder of the side, missing out due to a hamstring injury. The veteran is yet to recover fully from the issue that he sustained two months ago while playing in the Hundred.
In his absence, England has gone with Chris Woakes, who will feature in his first overseas Test match after nearly 18 months and his first in Asia since 2016, while Brydon Carse is being handed over his debut. In the absence of Stokes, Ollie Pope will lead the team for the fourth successive Test match.
Carse has been prized for his hard work of 127 first-class wickets in 48 games at an average of under 34 and a strike rate of around nine overs with a best bowling figure of 6/26 in an innings.
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“I tried my hardest to try and get myself fit for this first game but, we’ve taken the call to miss this one. I’ve not quite managed to get game-ready.” Stokes expressed two days before the opening Test. “We got to a certain point, but just looking at the bigger picture around what we’ve got coming up and physically where I’m at with my rehab, I’m not quite ready to play.”
The England captain spent nearly an hour in the training session doing shuttle runs before batting in the nets for around a few periods against Rehan Ahmed, as the management is taking a cautious approach against him.
England pick two spinner for the Multan Test match
The second Test match will offer him another ten days to get fit, but he remarked that there has been positivity in the process. He also shared that regarding where he should be in fitness, he is ahead and will try hard to be back before the second game.
“Whatever sports you play, you’re going to get injuries. I’m 33 now, so I’ve put my body through quite a lot. I’ve started working incredibly hard over the last two years.” Stokes claimed on the update.
“I know that I’m getting older, so it’s not through lack of effort. It’s just one of those things where, with what we do, you’re going to put yourself at risk every time you walk out on the field for injuries.” The Durham all-rounder said.
England has gone with two frontline spinners, Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, for the Test, as the latter will be playing his first red-ball game since January, along with Gus Atkinson, who has recovered from the niggle and will be eager to be part of the first overseas Test post an impressive English summer.
There is no place for either Olly Stone or Matthew Potts, both of whom were part of the seam attack in the Sri Lanka series, as the additional pace of Carse during the ODI series against Australia has pushed him ahead in the selection battle.
“He’s a natural wicket-taker. He’s got those balls in him that, out of nowhere, on the flattest of wickets, you can make something happen. He offers a huge amount to the squad.” The former England captain, Joe Root, noted.
England Playing XI For 1st Test vs Pakistan
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk.), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.