Ben Stokes returns as England announce playing XI for 2nd Test against Pakistan

After suffering a hamstring injury that prevented him from playing in the first Test match in Multan earlier this week, regular captain Ben Stokes will finally return to the England Test team. Remarkably, it took the star all-rounder almost two months to fully recover.

Stokes is expected to replace Chris Woakes, their current bowling leader, as the team’s pacer. In addition, there has been another significant adjustment made to the English team. As recently stated by the England Cricket Board (ECB), youthful Matthew Potts will replace Pacer Gus Atkinson in the playing XI, while Atkinson has been allowed time off. The Three Lions are preparing for the second Test, which is scheduled to be played at the same location, which is interesting.

Even though Pakistan scored more than 550 runs in their first innings, they were humiliated in the match. The strip that will probably be utilized to play the game will also be the same, it was also disclosed, having been well irrigated and then dried in the hot sun over the final two practice days. Instead of the pitch behaving like a belter in the first game, it is strongly expected that spinners would play a significant role on the surface for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) fixture.

Ben Stokes is probably going to be England’s third seamer in the second Test.

Speaking of Ben Stokes, he resumed bowling during England’s training sessions and is expected to debut as the visiting team’s third seamer. In addition to Potts and Stokes, Brydon Carse, who is also his Durham teammate, will share bowling duties during the second Test. Former England star and bowling guru James Anderson, meantime, commented on the pitch’s characteristics and expressed expectations that the surface might prove to be a significant showdown for the spin bowlers.

“This week might be significant for the spinners. He still looks to provide a respectable amount with the ball, though I’m not sure about his entire share,” Anderson stated on Sunday.

Two changes

We’ve announced our team for the second Test against Pakistan in Multan

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 14, 2024

Speaking of the English bowlers’ experience in the first Test match in Multan, the seamers had to endure extended periods of bowling in intense heat, but this was overshadowed by the visiting team’s overwhelming triumph by an innings. During the match, Pacers Woakes, Carse, and Atkinson bowled an incredible 112 overs. Atkinson and the veteran played in all six Test matches at home prior to their tour of Pakistan.

They have therefore taken a break as part of the workload management. It’s interesting to note that because Carse, the other pacer, was serving a ban, he was regarded as the workhorse for the forthcoming Test. As a result, he missed all cricket matches in June and August, respectively. After dislocating his thumb during England’s first innings of fielding in the first Test, Ben Duckett became the focus of much discussion in the batting department.

However, being included in the starting lineup attests to the fact that the injury was not very serious. Additionally, Stokes will be able to play at number six as wicketkeeper batsman Jamie Smith will drop to number seven. Shoaib Bashir, who is still a young player, and Jack Leach will continue to play spin for England.

Also Read: Pakistan vs England: Multan curator advised to prepare spin-friendly track

However, Bashir had a pretty poor first Test performance, and as Rehan Ahmed is a specialist leg spinner, he would soon need to bowl well in the next Test to keep from being benched.