MULTAN: Pakistan dealt a blow to their hopes of leveling the three-match series by making three injury changes for the second Test against England in Multan on Friday.
The hosts are already without pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been ruled out of the series after surgery for appendicitis, and further injuries have forced them to make three changes.
Along with fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, top-order batsman Azhar Ali was also out.
The home side have replaced him with all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf and uncapped spinner Abrar Ahmed.
England, who lead the three-Test series 1-0, announced their playing XI on Thursday, with paceman Mark Wood replacing injured all-rounder Liam Livingstone.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, England captain Ben Stokes said, “We have to wait and see what it (the pitch) has to offer but hopefully we can go out and set a similar standard with the bat.” can do
His Pakistani counterpart Babar Azam said that he too would have preferred batting first.
“The pitch looks dry, we have to bowl in the right places,” Babar said.
England won the opening match in Rawalpindi by 74 runs on their first Test tour of Pakistan since 2005.
The final test is scheduled from December 17 in Karachi.
Teams:
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafiq, Babar Azam (captain), Saud Shakeel, Muhammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Muhammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Zahid Mahmood, Abrar Ahmed, Muhammad Ali.
England: Zac Crowley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson
