MULTAN — England is aiming to challenge struggling Pakistan with a new-look pace attack in the opening test of a three-match series, starting in the searing heat of Multan on Monday.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse will make his test debut with Gus Atkinson set to play his first overseas test after his impressive home season against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
All-rounder Chris Woakes was penciled in to the starting XI after Ben Stokes was ruled out for the fourth successive test match due to ongoing rehabilitation on his injured hamstring. Woakes will be playing his first match in two-and-a-half years and it will be his first test in Asia since 2016.
Carse’s pace gave him the edge over Olly Stone and Matthew Potts for the tour of Pakistan and England hopes the Durham pace bowler will challenge the batters by regularly clocking over 90mph.
England will be led by Ollie Pope, who guided the team to a 2-1 home series against Sri Lanka in the absence of the injured Stokes. The England captain sustained his hamstring injury during the Hundred and might return to lead the side in the second test, also in Multan.
“I was kind of just learning on the job,” Pope said. “Obviously my first time captain abroad. Ben’s going to be around as well… so I can listen to the voices around me but still keep doing things in my way.”
England flattened Pakistan 3-0 through its high-risk, high-reward “Bazball” approach during the 2022 tour when it played at Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
They were scheduled to play at the same venues this time around, but renovation work at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi for next year’s Champions Trophy forced the Pakistan Cricket Board to organize back-to-back tests at Multan with Rawalpindi set to host the third test from Oct. 24.
England also named spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir in the playing XI in anticipation of the pitch flattening out in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius that are expected over the next week in Multan. Leach was the second highest wicket-taker in the last series in Pakistan with 15 wickets.
“Everyone’s so happy to have Leach in and around the squad for this series,” Pope said. “We obviously saw how well he bowled last time here on pitches that (are) always offering a great deal … and he’s worked closely with Shoaib Bashir throughout his Somerset career and those guys go really well.”
Pakistan has strengthened its batting line-up by including all-rounder Aamer Jamal for the first test after being routed 2-0 by Bangladesh at home in the last series. Shan Masood has lost all five test matches since he was elevated to red-ball captain.
Masood lost 3-0 to Australia in his debut series as test skipper when Jamal took 18 wickets and came in handy as a batter down the order. Jamal missed the series against Bangladesh because he was undergoing rehabilitation on a back injury.
“We have got an edge with the return of Aamer Jamal,” Masood said. “He also bats down the order and picked up 18 wickets. We have (leg-spinner) Abrar and (off-spinner) Salman to give us spin options.”
Pakistan has a woeful record in home test matches and hasn’t won at home since beating South Africa 2-0 in early 2021, while losing to England, Australia and Bangladesh. New Zealand also came close, but Pakistan managed to draw the series 0-0.
Pakistan had its moments to beat England when both teams last met at Multan two years ago. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed made an impressive debut by grabbing 11 wickets before Pakistan narrowly lost by 26 runs when Mark Wood, missing in this series due to injury, claimed the key wicket of Saud Shakeel.
“It was my dream debut and last time we lost quite close,” Abrar said on the eve of the first test. “I hope to give a match-winning performance this time around and bring some happy moments.”
Pakistan’s top-order batters have long been struggling and premier batter Babar Azam hasn’t scored a half-century in his last 16 test innings. Opener Abdullah Shafique also struggled against Bangladesh while Masood couldn’t convert starts into big scores with only one half-century in four innings.
But Masood insisted Pakistan needed to give its struggling batters a longer run as he searched to win key moments and find momentum in the series against aggressive England.
“We came close to winning last time, but we let the matches slip away,” Masood said. “We know how they play, but at the end of the day we have to see how to tackle it. We are clear in our mind and that’s why we have named the XI.” — (AP)