PAK vs ENG Test Series: England's red-ball skipper, Ben Stokes has been confirmed to miss England's first Test against Pakistan in Multan, continuing his recovery from a hamstring tear. Stokes said he had not yet fully recovered since his incident two months ago at The Hundred. Stokes had training on Saturday.
Chris Woakes will captain the side in Stokes' absence, his first Test outside England since 2018, and Brydon Carse will also make his Test debut. Ollie Pope will lead the side for the fourth successive match after guiding England to a 2-1 series triumph over Sri Lanka a month ago.
In the first 45 minutes of the training session, Stokes ran shuttle runs with England's strength and conditioning coach, Peter Sim. He batted in the nets, then with spin from Rehan Ahmed and local bowlers, and got plenty of throwdowns. However, Stokes is a cautious-minded individual when it comes to his recovery.
He has told ESPNcricinfo that he prefers not to rush back since England has a few more Tests to play in the remaining part of the year side will play six Tests before the end of the calendar. Hamstring injuries have a high recurrence risk so Stokes is now targeting making himself available from the second Test, starting from October 15, though he is likely to be a specialist batter by then.
It will hardly be more than 48 hours for England before they take the field on Tuesday as they will announce the playing XI later on Saturday. Two spinners will make a certain comeback to the team, while Jack Leach too gets a first look in international colours since January as his accomplice would be Shoaib Bashir. Gus Atkinson, who has recovered from his thigh niggle is likely to get a chance to make his overseas Test debut.
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Carse is likely to edge out his Durham teammate Matthew Potts for the final spot in England's seam attack. Both bowlers did well in the recent ODI series against Australia taking eight wickets each, but Carse's extra pace and strong batting skills seem to have gone up in his favor. Olly Stone, who played two Tests against Sri Lanka, is likely to miss out.
Carse, who missed much of the summer with a betting ban, impressed England's players during Australia's tour, regularly hitting speeds of 90 mph (145 kph). "He's a natural wicket-taker," said Joe Root. "He can create breakthroughs even on flat wickets, offering a significant boost to the squad."
As England prepares for this critical test series, one will see if Stokes' absence makes them soften a bit and how well these new players step up for the challenge.
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