Jofra Archer not playing: England have made a couple of changes to their winning combination from the previous Test.
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During the first day of the second Test of the ongoing Pakistan’s tour of England in Southampton, Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat in a bid to make a comeback in the three-match series.
Pakistan, who are amidst their longest consecutive overseas loss streak in Test matches, have made a solitary change to their Playing XI by bringing in batsman Fawad Alam in place of all-rounder Shadab Khan.
Alam, 34, had last played a Test match in 2009 and hasn’t played any form of international cricket since 2015. A heavy run-scorer in Pakistan’s domestic circuit, the southpaw will doubtlessly allure eyeballs in this match.
Why is Jofra Archer not playing today’s ENG vs PAK second Test?
The absence of vice-captain Ben Stokes has inspired England to make two changes to their squad. While Dan Crawley will resume his role at No. 3, Sam Curran has also been included in place of fast bowler Jofra Archer.
Curran, who is a handy customer with both the bat and ball especially in these conditions, should do well for the hosts. His inclusion means that England will take the field with four seamers in James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Curran.
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The move contradicts their earlier expressed desire of playing an outright fast bowler of the likes of Archer or Mark Wood.
“We wanted to lengthen our batting, Sam’s [Curran] performed brilliantly down the order for us in the past,” England captain Joe Root was quoted as saying during the toss. While Root didn’t talk about Archer not playing this match, him elaborating on lengthening the batting is enough a reason for not including the express pacer.
