Pakistan Reveal Playing XI For 2nd Test Vs England: Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi replacements named.
Photo : AP
Pakistan announced its playing eleven on Monday after dropping the trio of Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah for the remaining two Tests. Sarfaraz Ahmed was also released from the squad.
Kamran Ghulam replaces Babar Azam in the playing XI. Nomal Ali, Sajid Khan, and Zahid Mehmood come in for Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed.
Noticeably, Pakistan is going in the second Test with four spinners and just one fast bowler.
However, the selection has not gone down well, with fans voicing their concerns on social media.
"Pakistan pick 38 year old Nauman Ali & 36 year old Zahid Mahmood who have no future. Very disappointing selections. Hurraira and Mehran should have debuted," wrote Haroon, an avide cricket fan on X.
"Going with a spin-heavy attack this time, even though our spinner went wicketless last game. Let’s see how they perform," wondered Abassi, another Pakistan fan on social media.
Earlier, England also announced its playing XI where Ben Stokes made a return to the England Test team after recovering from the injury sustained in August.
"I feel good. I'm looking forward to getting back on the field," Stokes a day before the game.
"I've worked really hard at the back end of my rehab period at home and throughout the last Test match as well. I've put myself through a fitness test, pretty much, over the last couple of days, and come through that pretty well," he added.
England Playing XI: Ben Stokes (capt), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
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