Multan: After England revealed their playing XI for the second Test against Pakistan for the ongoing Test series between the two, the hosts have also announced their playing XI. Pakistan had made some tough decisions after the loss in the first Test by dropping players like Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. The hosts lost the first Test by an innings and 47 runs in Multan.
Kamran Ghulam will make his red-ball debut and is likely to replace Babar Azam at Number 4 in the batting unit. The team lacks a genuine fast bowler and they have gone with three spinners in the form of Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood. Abrar Ahmed has been left out as he continues to recover from illness.
Notably, the spin trio has experience of only 25 matches out of which 25 have been played by Noman alone has played 15 of those matches. Zahid Mahmood is making a comeback to the Test set-up for the first time since December 2022.
The same pitch used in the first Test of the series will be used for the second fixture. Thus, Pakistan are relying on Amir Jamal to play a role in the fast bowling unit. Pakistan are winless at home in Tests for the last 11 fixtures from March 2022 and they are aiming to get back to winning ways.
Pakistan suffered a loss against Bangladesh in the recent Test series and now they lost against England in the first Test. The team is facing constant criticism in the cricket fraternity for their poor performance.
