England are back in Pakistan for a three-Test series and will kick off the action in Multan, with Ollie Pope wearing the armband once again in the absence of the recovering Ben Stokes.
Ahead of the first Test, here are our match preview and predictions.
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England return to Pakistan with fond memories, especially at Multan, where two years ago their “Bazball” era started and saw them whitewash Pakistan at home.
With Brendon McCullum at the helm, England arrive in the Subcontinent on the back of two series wins—against the West Indies and Sri Lanka—though this will be their fourth straight Test without Ben Stokes, who is still recovering from a torn hamstring.
Ollie Pope is again the stand-in captain, but even in Stokes’ absence England have plenty of talent and experience, and it has been firing. Ben Duckett will be key for the visitors up top, as will be Joe Root, who has even more responsibility in Stokes’ absence. The young Harry Brook and Jamie Smith will have eyes on them as well, especially on the batter-friendly pitches. England have also brought back Chris Woakes for his first Test in almost two years, while Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir will be their main spinners.
The hosts, on the other hand, have been going through a torrid time. They are on a five-match losing streak and were recently whitewashed by Bangladesh at home.
Captain Shan Masood has his task cut out and will be hoping that his star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, along with Saud Shakeel and Abdullah Shafique, step up. On the bowling side of things, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah will also have their task cut out on the pitches meant for batting, while Abrar Ahmed will be the hosts’ lead spinner with support from Mir Hamza and Aamir Jamal.
The Multan ground is a high-scoring one. Its pitch may assist the seamers on the opening day, but expect a high-scoring game nonetheless, with the spinners coming into play around the third day.
Given their respective current forms and squad strength, we deem Ollie Pope’s men the favourites and back them to start the series with a win.
Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Babar Azam, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan, Chris Woakes, Shoaib Bashir, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Venue: Multan
Winners Prediction: England
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