England have announced their Playing XI for the first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan in Multan. Skipper Ben Stokes continues to stay on the sidelines as he is yet to recover fully from the hamstring injury he sustained two months ago. The first Test will commence on Monday, October 7.
In Stokes' absence, Ollie Pope will continue to captain the team after leading the Three Lions in the 2-1 series win against Sri Lanka. Brydon Carse will be making his Test debut while Chris Woakes is set to play his first overseas Test after two and a half years.
"England Men have confirmed their XI for the first Test against Pakistan, set to commence on Monday in Multan. Durham seamer Brydon Carse will be making his Test debut. With England Captain Ben Stokes still recovering from a hamstring tear, Ollie Pope will captain the side in his absence," the England Cricket Board said in a statement.
Among other returnees are Jack Leach and Zak Crawley. Leach will be playing in his first Test after featuring in the Test tour of India in January, while Crawley returns after recovering from the broken finger he sustained during the English summer.
Coming back to Stokes, the star all-rounder confirmed after training on Saturday that he is yet to recover fully from the injury he sustained in The Hundred. "I tried my hardest to try and get myself fit for this first game but we've taken the call to miss this one. I've not quite managed to get game-ready. We got to a certain point, but just looking at the bigger picture around what we've got coming up and actually physically where I'm at with my rehab, I'm not quite ready to play," he said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
He will now look to return for the second Test which will take place from October 15 onwards. "I've pushed myself incredibly hard. I've worked really, really hard with the medical team to get to where I'm at now. I think I'm further ahead than what we expected today. Look, I'll be working just as hard over the next 10 days to try and give myself a chance to be fit," he said.
Stokes might return only as a specialist batter but he is tight-lipped on his bowling role, saying it's too far to tell. "That's in my 10-day plan from now to that next one, eking bowling back into my training. We've had a good plan put together by myself and the medical guys out here, so I'll be working incredibly hard to try and give myself a good chance of being ready," he said.
England Playing XI for first Test against Pakistan:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
