England captain Stokes back from injury for second Pakistan Test

MULTAN: Captain Ben Stokes was named in the England team for the second Test against Pakistan starting in Multan on Tuesday after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Stokes suffered the injury two months ago and missed the three-match home series against Sri Lanka and last week’s first Test, which the visitors won by an innings.

Durham seamer Matthew Potts also returns to the side for the first time since the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka at the end of August. Seamers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes are rested.

"Look, it’s obviously got to be sensible," said talismanic all-rounder Stokes on Monday after he was declared fit, having been bowling in the nets since before the first Test.

"I’m obviously playing as a third seamer.

"I’m available to bowl and obviously when I sense the time is right for me to maybe come on and make an impact there won’t be any doubts in my mind that I can come on and bowl."

Asked if he could have played as a batsman only, the 33-year-old skipper added: "Those were the sort of thoughts that went through my head at home before we came out.

"I’d written a few teams down with me not bowling, and it just didn’t work."

England won the first Test, also in Multan, by an innings and 47 runs on Friday, with Ollie Pope leading the side in Stokes’s absence.

In a highly unusual move, the second Test will be played on the same pitch used for the first.

England rode on a brilliant 317 from Harry Brook and 262 from Joe Root for a stunning victory.

Pakistan became the first team in Test cricket’s 147-year history to lose by an innings after posting a 550-plus total in their first knock.

Under-pressure Pakistan, who have gone 11 Tests without a win at home, named three frontline spinners in their team as they chase a series-levelling win.

They have made four changes, including bringing in batsman Kamran Ghulam for his debut.

The 29-year-old has performed well in domestic cricket, having set a national record of 1,249 runs in the 2020-21 season.

The spin bowling will be handled by left-armer Noman Ali, leg-break bowler Zahid Mahmood and off-spinner Sajid Khan, all brought into the side.

Pakistan left out batsman Babar Azam along with the pace duo of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, and spinner Abrar Ahmed. He is still unwell.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood

England: Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir