Pakistan have announced their playing XI for the first Test against England starting on October 6 (Monday) in Multan. They have recalled Shaheen Afridi after leaving him out in the previous Test match against Bangladesh while all-rounder Aamer Jamal is set to make his comeback after nine months.
Their skipper Shan Masood confirmed the line-up for the hosts in the press conference on the eve of the opening Test match. Pakistan are coming off a shocking 0-2 series defeat at the hands of Bangladesh at home and had also lost to England 0-3 at home last time when the Brits had toured the country. Their record in Pakistan is extremely poor, especially over the last three years and would be keen on making amends soon.
The return of Aamer Jamal must have boosted their line-up as the all-rounder was Pakistan's player of the series on the Australia tour earlier this year. He had scored 143 runs at an average of 28.6 and also picked up 18 wickets in the series. His comeback bodes well for the hosts as he plays a crucial role at number eight with the bat.
Naseem Shah is also back in the Test side after missing out in the previous game against Bangladesh even as Salman Ali Agha is their part-time and fifth bowler in the playing XI. The onus will be on their best batter Babar Azam who recently resigned as Pakistan's white-ball captain as he wants to focus completely on his batting.
Pakistan's playing XI for first Test vs England: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah
More to follow...
