MULTAN, Pakistan — Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the coin toss and elected to bat in the first test against England on Monday.
Pakistan had been searching for its first test win at home in more than 3-1/2 years since last beating South Africa in early 2021. It got beaten 2-0 by Bangladesh in August, but kept faith on the same struggling batting line-up for the opening game of three-match series.
Masood, who has lost all the five test matches since being elevated as skipper last year, said the team “is hurt” from the recent results, especially losing some of the games after coming close to winning positions.
“We asked for a good cricket wicket,” Masood said at the toss. “We want to change things, we want to get back on track and we’re looking to do so with this group of players.”
Fast bowling all-rounder Aamer Jamal, who missed the series against Bangladesh, has recovered from back injury and will combine with two frontline fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah as Pakistan also included specialist spinner Abrar Ahmed.
England’s regular test captain Ben Stokes will miss the series opener because he is yet to fully recover from a hamstring injury he sustained during the Hundred.
Stokes presented a test cap to his Durham team-mate Brydon Carse, who will be making his debut as England’s new-look pace attack try to challenge Pakistan’s struggling top-order batting line-up.
Gus Atkinson, who had a sensational home season against West Indies and Sri Lanka, will be playing his first overseas test and Chris Woakes returns to test fold after 2-1/2 years.
In the absence of Stokes, England will be led by Ollie Pope for the fourth successive test match after he led the side to 2-1 win against Sri Lanka at home.
Pope said he would have chosen to bat too with the temperature expected to touch 40 degrees Celsius in Multan.
“The conditions are probably the hottest I’ve played in,” Pope said. “We would have had a bat too, but there’s a little bit of moisture in the pitch so we’re hoping to make the most of it first.”
Multan will host back-to-back test matches after the second test was shifted from Karachi due to construction work going on at the National Bank Stadium for next year’s Champions Trophy. Rawalpindi will host the third and final test from Oct. 24.
England swept Pakistan 3-0 when it toured Pakistan in 2022.
Line-ups:
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood , Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope , Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
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