England have announced their playing XI for the second Test against Pakistan to be played in Multan. The visitors have made two changes to their line-up after winning the opening Test with captain Ben Stokes making a comeback after fully recovering from a hamstring injury sustained during the Hundred in August.
Fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes have been rested for this Test while Matthew Potts is one of the replacements apart from Stokes. England are already leading the three-match series 1-0 after registering a famous win by an innings and 47 runs. They smashed a mammoth total of 823 runs in the first innings on a flat pitch after conceding 556 runs. But their bowlers managed to pick up 10 wickets in the second innings to crush Pakistan in the opening Test.
Atkinson and Woakes sent down 39 and 35 overs respectively across two innings in the searing heat in Multan. There will be no respite in the second Test either even though the pitch is expected to help the spinners this time around. Interestingly, England haven't added a spinner to their XI with Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir already in the line-up and Joe Root is their third spinner.
"England Captain Ben Stokes returns after missing the last four Test matches. He has fully recovered from a hamstring tear, which has kept him on the sidelines since early August," ECB said in a statement providing an update on their captain. Stokes' return boosts England's batting even more and he is also expected to roll his arm if required during the Test match.
England playing XI for second Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir
Meanwhile, England will face a new look Pakistan team in the second Test as the hosts have left out Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from their squad while rewarding the performing players from domestic cricket.
