English captain Ben Stokes continues to recover from a hamstring injury, making his participation in the first Test against Pakistan doubtful with the game starting Monday (October 7) in Multan.
Stokes has been sidelined since the start of August and he even missed England's 2-1 Test series victory against Sri Lanka. The team was led to glory by Ollie Pope.
The captain of the England's Test side, however, trained with his team in Multan on Friday. He was seen batting during the net sessions and also bowled.
The all-rounder stated last week that he is unlikely to bowl at the beginning of the three-Test series.
Opener Zak Crawley told BBC Sport that his captain seems to be doing well and is recovering from his injury.
"We don't know just yet. I think he's got to do a few more tests, but he's been doing some running and stuff,” the English teams' opener added.
Nevertheless, if Stokes is fit enough to field and bat but not bowl, England will need to decide how to balance their side against Pakistan.
As stated earlier, Stokes had to be rested against Sri Lanka, England then added five bowlers to their playing XI, if they opt to do the same on Monday they will have to drop one of their top-order batters.
England can avoid leaving out an important batter by handing the wicketkeeping responsibilities to Pope whereas Jamie Smith keeps the wicket for the team on a regular basis.
Then, they can play with four bowlers, with Joe Root aiding the side with his right-arm off-break spin bowling.
Things would be easier for England if they decide to rest Stokes altogether, Pope would remain the captain for one more game, and Smith would keep the wickets and bat at six, leaving the necessary space for five bowlers.
Opening batter, Crawley conveyed that Multan's pitch has the “green tinge” to it so England could possibly need three seamers and two spinners in their playing XI.
As for Crawley himself, the batter is returning from a broken finger that sidelined him for more than two months. He sustained the injury while he was attempting to catch the ball while fielding at slip against the West Indies. England won the series by 3-0 at Edgbaston in July.
"I feel brand new," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting out there. I've certainly missed it, so I can't wait to get out there again with the boys.
There is great news for cricket fans, Pakistan's first private sports channel Geo Super will air all three matches of the Pakistan vs England Test series live.
Squads:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Huraira, Saim Ayub, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Shaheen Afridi.
England: Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes (captain), Chris Woakes, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett (wk), Jamie Smith (wk), Jordan Cox (wk), Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, Jack Leach, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir.
Pakistan vs England Test series schedule:
First Test: 7-11 October, Multan.
Second Test: 15-19 October, Multan.
Third Test: 24-28 October, Rawalpindi.
- Ben Stokes
