\u201cThis is our best playing XI […] we have maintained our batting line-up to ensure consistency,\u201d says skipper
\n LAHORE
\nAs Pakistan look to take on England in the three-match Test series, the national side on Sunday announced their playing XI for the first match set to commence at Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday.
\nSpeaking at a press conference, captain Shan Masood said: \u201cThis is our best playing XI […] Aamir Jamal\u2019s inclusion will be beneficial. We have maintained our batting line-up to ensure consistency.\u201d
\nThe three-match series is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 and will see the Men in Green eyeing a comeback in the longer format of the game after suffering a humiliating whitewash against Bangladesh last month.
\nExpressing his views on the upcoming match, Masood said that the visitors \u2014 who secured a 2-1 victory against Sri Lanka in September \u2014 have a balanced team and underscored the need to play strong cricket on the field.
\nAddressing England\u2019s skipper Ben Stokes\u2019 unavailability in the first Test, the captain said: \u201cStokes\u2019s absence will definitely affect England, but their playing XI is still strong, he is one of the world\u2019s best all-rounders.\u201d
\n\u201cEngland have good seamers,\u201d he remarked.
\n\u201cWe have come close to losing in the past [….] A Test match is a five-day game, so you can\u2019t have one strategy,\u201d he added, noting that a rotation policy has to be introduced for workload management regarding the fast bowlers.
\nConditions to help spinners, seamers
\nMeanwhile, expressing his views, England captain Ollie Pope said that the conditions were different in Multan and would help the spinners and seamers.
\n\u201cIt will be interesting to see how the pitch plays out […] The [team] plan depends on the pitch and will be chalked out accordingly, \u201c he said while speaking to the media.
\nNoting that England bowlers will try to get as many wickets as possible in these conditions, Pope underscored the significance for consistency in the performance of the spinners.
\n\u201cWe have two regular spinners meaning that we may not be required to test Joe Root\u2019s skills [in bowling department,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cThe Pakistan team, though not playing well recently, is a tough team nevertheless [and] with bowlaers like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, we have to play good cricket,\u201d remarked the England captain.
\nPlaying XIs for first Test
\nPakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad
\nEngland: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThis is our best playing XI […] we have maintained our batting line-up to ensure consistency,\u201d says skipper LAHORE As Pakistan look to take on England in the three-match Test series, the national side on Sunday announced their playing XI for the first match set to commence at Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday. Speaking at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-435800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n