ISLAMABAD: A demoralized Pakistan cricket team that has not won a single Test match on home soil since February 2021 will look to reverse its cricket fortunes when it locks horns with a strong England side during the first of the three-match series in Multan today, Monday.
The last three-and-a-half years for Test cricket have been brutal for Pakistan, with the green shirts remaining winless in their last 10 home Tests. To add insult to injury, Shan Masood’s side suffered a humiliating 2-0 home defeat to Bangladesh last month.
England skipper Ben Stokes, who led his team to an emphatic 3-0 Test series victory during the team’s last tour in 2022, has been ruled out of the first Test match due to injury.
“The first test match between Pakistan and England will begin at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
On the eve of the first Test, Masood warned that even without Stokes, England were a dangerous side.
“England’s strength will not lessen with one individual (missing),” he warned. “They are still very competitive.
“If you look at their playing eleven then it’s very balanced with all-rounders, and they have two spinners and three fast bowlers with deep batting, so their loss is that of an individual.”
England’s stand-in skipper Ollie Pope said though Pakistan had remained winless at home for quite a while, the visitors will be wary of them.
“They’ve obviously not had their strongest run recently, but we still see them as a highly skilled side,” he said at a press conference on Sunday. “They are a team we don’t take lightly.”
Pakistan named their team with a bowling attack of two fast bowlers in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, medium-pacer Aamer Jamal and frontline spinner Abrar Ahmed.
The second match is also in Multan, from Oct. 15, with the final Test in Rawalpindi beginning Oct. 24.
Squads
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad
England: Ollie Pope (captain), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes