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Pakistan have announced their Playing XI for the first Test of the three-Test series against England starting on October 7 at Multan Cricket Stadium. Star fast-bowling all-rounder Aamer Jamal has returned to the side after recovering from injury.
Pakistan have continued to show faith in spinner Abrar Ahmed despite his laclustre performance against second Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi returned to the side replaced Mir Hamza who bagged three wickets in the previous Test.
No place for Sarfaraz again
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Ahmed continues to warm the benches. After two Tests in Sri Lanka and one in Pakistan where he did not score runs, Mohammad Rizwan has been preferred as wicketkeeper-batter over Sarfaraz. Sarfaraz has a good record in Pakistan with 335 runs from two Tests including one century and three half-centuries.
Playing XIs for first Test:
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
Gillespie’s message for critics
Head coach Jason Gillespie has backed the team to well as they have been written off by many after they failed to win a Test at home in 10th consecutive game.
“Our players love representing Pakistan in Test cricket and take immense pride in inspiring our supporters. We’re ready for this challenge,” he said on the PCB Podcast. “We know England’s evolved their game, but we’ll play our way – disciplined and strategic. When opportunities arise, we’ll seize them.”
“People are writing us off, and that’s fine – it just motivates the boys even more. We’ll give our best, and hopefully, the results will follow.”
