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LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Saturday, unveiled their Playing XI for the first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan, scheduled to commence on Monday at Multan Cricket Stadium.
The touring side will be without their regular captain Ben Stokes, who has been sidelined from the opening Test due to a lingering hamstring injury.
Consequently, middle-order batter Ollie Pope, who led England to a 2-1 series victory over Sri Lanka, has been named England captain for the first Test against Pakistan.
England’s Playing XI marks the return of left-arm off-spinner Jack Leach and opening Zak Crawley.
Leach last represented England in January this year while Crawley has been sidelined since the summer due to a broken finger.
Furthermore, Durham seamer Brydon Carse will be making his Test debut.
England enter the three-match away Test series as favourites, mainly due to their recent series triumphs over West Indies (3-0) and Sri Lanka (2-1) at home, while Pakistan, last month, suffered a 2-0 series whitewash by Bangladesh.
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Despite being the favourites, England’s senior batter Joe Root insisted that the touring side will not take anything for granted, acknowledging Pakistan’s “ability and skill level”.
“We know how good Pakistan is as a team and the ability and skill level they have. You got to have full respect for that,” Root told a press conference.
“In their own conditions, in particular, they’ve got a number of players that are match winners and that are capable of doing very special things in test cricket.”
England Playing XI for first Test against Pakistan:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
Pakistan Squad for first Test:
Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zahid Mahmood.
READ: ‘He is never out of form’: England batter calls Babar Azam a major threat
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