LEEDS (Dunya News) - Pakistan and England will lock horns in a three-match Test series from 19 August till 13 September with the first match beginning at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds on Wednesday.
The second Test match will be played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground from 27 August, while the third will begin on 9 September at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.
Pakistan will be without Babar Azam after he was hit by a ball during Pakistan’s three-day warm-up match. Salman Agha will stand-in for Babar, becoming the 36th man to lead Pakistan in Test cricket.
After having made his Test debut in July 2022, Salman has so far played 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 52 T20Is. He has led Pakistan in two ODIs and 50 T20Is. Shan Masood, who missed out the second Test against West Indies, will be in contention for the Leeds Test.
Following their eight-wicket series-levelling win against West Indies in Port of Spain on 5 August, the Pakistan Test squad arrived in London on 8 August before taking part in training sessions at the Kent County Ground in Beckenham.
Pakistan romped to a seven-wicket win against Professional County Cricketers Select XI in a three-day match from 13 to 15 August in Beckenham following an unbeaten century by Saud Shakeel in the 262-run chase. Going into the Test series, Pakistan will be banking on the rich batting form of Abdullah Shafique as well.
Pakistan emerged victorious in the recent most Test series against England at home winning 2-1, while England won the home 2020 and away 2022 series. The four-match 2016 series in England and the two-match 2018 series were drawn 2-2 and 1-1, respectively. Pakistan had the clinched the 2012 and 2015 series in UAE.
Apart from these series wins, Pakistan has also beaten England in the 1984, 1987 (twice), 1992 and in the 1996 series. The two nations first faced each other in Tests in 1954 and that is where Pakistan opened its account against England with a 24-run win in Oval Test.
Over the years on English soil, Pakistan has won five Tests at Lord’s (1982), (1992), (1996), (2016), (2018), four at the Oval (1954), (1992), (1996), (2010), (2016). Pakistan won the Leeds Test in 1987 and Manchester Test in 2001 as well. Overall, Pakistan has won 23 Tests against England out of the 92, while 39 Tests ended in draw.
Addressing the media in Leeds, Pakistan’s red-ball head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said, “Our practice match went really good. We covered all our bases in terms of preparation as a bowling and batting unit both and also won that warm-up game. The spirits are quite high and I have a belief in the whole team that we will do well here.
“As team management, we are confident regarding Salman leading Pakistan in this Test match. He is one of those players who start feeling confident after getting the leadership. As for Babar, it is quite unfortunate that he was hit on hand. Hopefully, he will be back for the second match.”
Pakistan Test squad:
Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha (to stand in as captain during Leeds Test), Aamir Jamal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam ul Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Muhammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah
England squad:
Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue