The England contingent have arrived in Pakistan to play the historic three-match Test series against the hosts, for the first time since the year 2005.
Advertisement
The first of the three-match Test series will commence from December 1 onwards at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The second and third Test of the tour will take place from December 9-13 (Multan) and December 17-21 (Karachi) respectively.
For those unaware, England’s tour also consisted of the seven-match T20I series against Pakistan in September this year, which the visitors had won by a 4-3 margin.
ALSO READ: Ben Stokes to donate match fees of Pakistan tour towards Pakistan flood appeal
While England right away played a three-match ODI series against Australia post lifting the T20 World Cup title, the imminent home Test series will be Pakistan’s first international assignment after losing to England in the World Cup final.
The build-up to the series had already spiced-up, with England’s Test head coach Brendon McCullum conforming to play the series with the aggressive mindset, where they would be willing to have a match result at any cost.
PAK vs ENG warm up match
The two sides did not have any warm-up match scheduled ahead of the series opening Test set to commence from Thursday onwards.
However, England did had a camp in Abu Dhabi last week, where they also played a three-day tour match against England Lions from November 23.
Skipper Ben Stokes did not partake in the match, and it was Ollie Pope who was chosen to lead the side and returned back only after scoring a century – 146 off 120 balls. Zak Crawley (96 off 89) was the second-highest scorer in the English innings.
Stokes decided to opt against playing on the third and final day of the match, as he felt that the squad members had enough game time during the first couple of days.
As for Pakistan, they will feature in the first Test match directly. While Babar Azam will lead the side, fast-bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is the notable exclusion from the squad as he is yet to recover back to fitness after injury. Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Wasim Jr. will form the core of the pace attack.
