Pakistan vs England 2024: Ben Stokes back in charge, makes BIG change to winning team for playing 11 of 2nd Test
England skipper Ben Stokes will be back into the side and take over the captaincy reigns from Ollie Pope as the visitors announced two changes to the winning playing 11 for the second Test against Pakistan beginning in Multan from Tuesday (October 15). With Stokes returning to the side, all-rounder Gus Atkinson has been rested while pacer Matthew Potts will return to the side to replace Chris Woakes.
“Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have confirmed England will make two changes to their team to face Pakistan in Multan for the second Test. England Men have confirmed their XI for the second Test against Pakistan, which is set to commence on Tuesday in Multan. Seamers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes are rested,” an ECB press statement read on Monday.
Two changes
We’ve announced our team for the second Test against Pakistan in Multan
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 14, 2024
Stokes is returning to England team after missing the last four Test matches due to hamstring tear. The all-rounder has been out of action since August.
Meanwhile, Potts will be back into the playing 11 after turning out in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in August this year.
England’s XI for the second Test vs Pakistan
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has backed their decision to drop the star quartet, batter Babar Azam, former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, and star pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah from the squad for the remaining two Tests against England.
On Sunday, the world of cricket was taken by surprise after Pakistan announced its decision to bring in youngsters in place of the established stars after enduring a historic defeat by an innings and 47 runs in the series opener. The PCB stated that the decision to axe players from the squad has been made in the best interest of Pakistan’s cricket, Geo News reported.
A PCB spokesperson backed the board’s decision by stating that the players were ‘spared from the team to give them rest so that they can come back afresh’. The decision came after the PCB announced the decision of reconstituting the men’s selection committee. Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali and Hassan Cheema were appointed as the new members of the selection committee.
The experienced quartet have been replaced by Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, fast bowler Mohammad Ali, off-spinner Sajid Khan and uncapped Kamran Ghulam. Spinners Noman Ali and Zahid Mehmood were initially part of the 16-player squad for the opening Test. However, they were released from the squad after Pakistan announced the playing XI for the opening Test.
The PCB spokesperson further elaborated on the decision and stated that it was a challenging task for the selection committee to pick up the squad while carefully considering the current form of the players.
“The PCB believes that each of Haseebullah, Mehran, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Ali, Noman, Sajid and Zahid have the ability to rise to the occasion and serve the team in the remaining two Tests,” he added.
(with ANI inputs)