Pak vs Eng: Green Shirts elect to bat in first Multan Test

MULTAN: Pakistan on Monday won the toss and opted to bat first in the first Test against England being played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The three-match Test series is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 and will see the national side striving for some redemption in the longer format of the game after suffering a humiliating whitewash against Bangladesh last month.

The Shan Masood-led side has lost five Tests in a row, whereas the visitors are coming into the series after securing a 2-1 victory against Sri Lanka in September.

“We want to change things and get back on track,” said Masood at the toss, adding that the national side has opted to go with two spinners and three fast bowlers in the match.

It is to be noted that England are being led by Ollie Pope in the first Test after the visitors’ captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the contest due to a hamstring injury in the Hundred League.

Moreover, James Anderson, is not accompanying the team on their tour of Pakistan, as he is participating in the Scotland’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

A day earlier the national side announced their playing XI which included three pacers along with mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed.

“This is our best playing XI […] Aamir Jamal’s inclusion will be beneficial. We have maintained our batting line-up to ensure consistency,” the skipper said.

England’s coach Brendon McCullum has cautioned his side that replicating their 2022 success in Pakistan would be a tough task amid the “rocketing” heat of Multan.

His remarks come against the backdrop of England’s 3-0 victory in 2022 against the Green Shirts on the latter’s home soil.

Before that, the visitors had played 24 Tests in Pakistan, winning just two out of them making the 3-0 win much more remarkable.

Playing XI
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), 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