Ben Stokes will return to captain England in Multan this week after two months sidelined with a torn hamstring. Stokes has stepped up his recovery in the past week and will replace Chris Woakes in one of two England changes from the first Test, with Matthew Potts also coming in for the rested Gus Atkinson.
“I feel good. I’m looking forward to getting back on the field,” Stokes said ahead of his return. “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.”
England are braced for a lower-scoring second Test, with the match set to be played on the same strip as the one used for their innings win last week. The pitch has been heavily watered but has dried out in the sun during two practice days, and the used surface could bring both teams’ spinners into the game.
Stokes has been bowling in training and will be England’s third seam option behind Potts and Brydon Carse, his Durham team-mates. It is a rare example of England picking three seamers from the same county. “It’s going to be a proud moment for the club,” he said. “Durham have a great record of producing England cricketers, and in particular fast bowlers.”
On his own fitness to bowl, Stokes said: “I’ve obviously got to be sensible. Playing on a used wicket made the decision a little bit easier… We’ve got two workhorses in the team in Carsey and Potts who just keep going and going and going. But I’m available to bowl, and when I sense the time is right for me to come on and make an impact, there won’t be any doubts in my mind.”
England’s seamers all had a heavy workload in the first Test, despite their innings win: Atkinson bowled 39 overs, Carse 38 and Woakes 35. Atkinson and Woakes both played all six Tests of England’s home summer and have been rested, with a short turnaround between matches, while Carse should be much fresher after spending June, July and August serving a ban.
“You’re looking at the last seven Test matches being pretty gruelling – in particular, the last one,” Stokes said. “Looking at the seamers we’ve got out here, this is a good time for them to have a rest and refresh the body. They’ve had a really big summer and put in really good performances, bowled a lot of overs. It’s a good time for them to get their feet up and have a break.”
Ben Duckett retains his place at the top of the order after recovering from a dislocated thumb sustained on the second evening of the first Test, while Jamie Smith will shuffle back down to No. 7 to allow Stokes to return in his favoured role at No. 6.
England have stuck with the same spinners – Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir – despite Bashir’s quiet first Test, in which he returned match figures of 1 for 156. Rehan Ahmed is the other spin option in their squad, while the Warwickshire and England Under-19s legspinner Tazeem Ali is on holiday in Pakistan and has been bowling in the nets this week.
England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
