Pakistan wins toss, opts to bat first

MULTAN: Pakistan won the toss on Monday and chose to bat first in the first test match against England.

Captain Shan Masood stated that the pitch conditions are good, and that he hopes to play a great game.

“We need to get back on track,” Masood said, hoping to get Pakistan back to their winning ways.

England’s captain Ollie Pope commented on the weather, saying “we are ready to play excellent cricket in the heat.

He also acknowledged that had he won the toss, he would have also opted to bat.

Pakistan vs England set to kick off in hours

Pakistan bolstered their batting lineup ahead of Monday’s test match. In press conference on Sunday, Masood discussed how a lack of batters against Bangladesh was their downfall. Due to this, they included more batters in their current playing XI.

Specifically, Masood praised Amir Jamal who showed Pakistan his batting capabilities in Australia.

In regards to the overall strategy, the captain said the team will need to adapt. “Can’t decide a test match strategy in one day, it changes over the course of the match,” he  said. 

PAKISTAN playing XI: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Amir Jamal, Shaheeen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed

ENGLAND playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

India thrash Bangladesh to take lead in series