Pakistan and England Friday will clash at Old Trafford as the hosts will be keen on leveling the series after their 75-run loss at Lord’s to Pakistan.
Pakistan has reportedly made no changes to their squad after the first Test match at Lord’s. However, England has recalled fast bowler James Anderson in a bid to skittle Pakistani batsmen and level the series after their loss at Lord’s to Pakistan.
Yasir Shah will also be part of the squad after news started doing the rounds that the leg-spinner had encountered a minor injury during practice. Yasir was instrumental in Pakistan’s first win at Lord’s due to his impressive 10-wicket haul. He became the first Asian bowler to take 10 wickets at Lord’s.
Pakistan will be looking to improve their batting display as the inclusion of James Anderson could spell doom for their comparatively weak batting order. Here are probable squads for today’s Test match at Old Trafford:-
England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 James Vince/Adil Rashid, 5 Gary Ballance, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.
Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Shan Masood, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Rahat Ali, 11 Yasir Shah.
Pakistan’s Yasir Shah needs only 14 more wickets in two Test matches to become the fastest bowler in history to secure 100 wickets.
After England’s loss at Lord’s, England captain Alastair Cook had vowed to use Pakistan’s press up celebration as motivation for the remaining matches of the series. Pakistani Captain Misbah-ul-Haq had stated that Pakistan did not disrespect England via their celebrations.
