Pakistan and England are playing the second Test match at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Today is the second day of the five-day game. England’s captain, Ben Stoke, is back in this match. He was out of their first Test due to being unfit.
He went down with an injury in August during the Hundred. And Ollie Pope replaced him as England’s captain. Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes were rested for the game, and Seamer Matthew Potts was included in the starting lineup for the first time since August.
Kamran Ghulam took the test cap for the first time on the second test. He got the cap after playing 59 first-class matches and scoring 4377 runs.
As they clinched victory against Pakistan in the first Test by an innings and 47 runs, the three-match series will have the last match in Rawalpindi starting from 24 October 2022.
Moreover, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah were excluded from the squad for the second test match.
Ben Stokes Reaction to Babar Azam’s Unexpected Withdrawal
The England captain said, “Everything on that, that’s Pakistan cricket issue. Nothing to do with me.”
This is Babar Azam’s first drop from the Pakistan team. He has been kept from Aquad since his debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015 and after his Test debut against the West Indies the following year.
Matthew Vaughan also criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board for excluding Babar Azam from stepping into the PAK vs. ENG tests since he arrived. He is the ex-captain of the England cricket team. Demonstrating his opinion on social media, Vaughan wrote, “absolutely stupid decision” to exclude the best player.
At this point, the former Pakistan captain is the number one ODI batsman and is in position four among T20 batters.
Ben Stokes Surprised Over Same Pitch for 2nd Test
England Test captain Ben Stokes is slightly surprised at Pakistan’s decision to use the same pitch for the second Test match. The first test match was played at Multan, which they lost by an inning.
“But I also confess that there will come a time when a used pitch will be the order of the day, and it will be for the good of the game in most instances. Using the used pitch brings much more into the game for both teams. If it spins and reverses more, both teams have more options. It could be a tactic. I’ve never seen the same pitch being used for back-to-back games.”
Pakistan Playing XI:
Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood
England Playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir
