More than half of England side falls prey to virus ahead of first Test against Pakistan

Right ahead of the historic Test against Pakistan, which starts on Thursday, more than half of the England team have been marred by a virus. 

Close to 13 to 14 members of the touring team are affected by the illness, with around half of that number members of the playing squad. Ben Stokes is among those affected, and it is believed to be a bug or virus rather than Covid.

The first of three Tests will take place in Rawalpindi.

England have made their their final training session ahead of the Test match on Wednesday morning optional. Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope and Joe Root reported for the practice session at the stadium in Rawalpindi – taken by head coach Brendon McCullum – with the rest remaining at their Islamabad base.

Stokes had named his nominal starting XI for the match, including handing a debut to Liam Livingstone and a first Test recall since 2016 for Ben Duckett, but his plans could be forced to change due to the illness.

Lancashire all-rounder Liam Livingstone is due to make his Test debut for England, while opener Ben Duckett has been recalled to play his first Test in six years.

Meanwhile, the symptoms of those affected are not related to Covid-19 and the hope is there will be a recovery within 24 hours.

England have not named an official vice-captain during Stokes’ reign as skipper, though Pope led the team in Stokes’ absence in a warm-up game against England Lions last week.

The Test will be England’s first in Pakistan in 17 years after they halted touring the country following an attack by gunmen on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009.

England first returned for a T20 series in September and November, winning 4-3.

Pakistan's squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

England's squad: Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed.