England tour of Pakistan 2022

PAK vs ENG, 1st Test 

Preview:

England is all set to take on Pakistan in a 3-match test series starting this Thursday 01st December 2022 in Pakistan. The visitors have announced their playing XI for the first Test of the series. The first Test between the two teams will be played in Rawalpindi.

England has included all-rounder Livingstone in the Test team for the first time in their playing XI announced for the first Test. Livingstone is now about to make his Test debut. Apart from this, Ben Duckett has returned to the Test team after 7 years. The English Test team had earlier toured Pakistan in 2005 when they lost 0–2.

In the Test team rankings, England is currently at number four and Pakistan at number six. The first match of the three-match Test series between the two teams will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from December 1 to 5. The England team, captained by Stokes, has to play all their three matches in Rawalpindi, Multan, and Karachi on the tour of Pakistan. England had come on a tour of Pakistan before the World Cup 2022, where a 7-match T20 series was played between England and Pakistan.

Stats and Records:

The three-match Test series between Pakistan and England is part of the World Test Championship 2021 – 2023. Pakistan is fifth in the nine-team WTC points table while England is seventh. A total of 47 matches have been played so far in the Test between Pakistan and England. In these, England has won 26 and Pakistan has won 21 matches. The first Test between the two teams was played in 1954. At that time the four-match Test series between the two teams was drawn 1-1.

The England team is set to face Pakistan in a three-match Test series, till now the tour was not considered easy for the English team, which played most of the matches at home, and from December 1, they got a big blow before the first test starts. Head coach McCullum said that Wood is out of the England team for the first Test match against Pakistan, he has suffered a hip injury. Although coach McCullum also said that Mark Wood is expected to be fit before the second Test match.

McCullum told during the press conference, "Mark Wood is not available for the Rawalpindi Test, but we are hopeful that he will recover in time and be available for the remaining two Tests." Before the match, England players had practiced fiercely at the Rawalpindi Stadium and Wood did not take part in it.

There is also a problem while choosing the bowling lineup for the first Test the team's experienced fast bowler Broad has not gone on this tour due to personal reasons. In such a situation, along with James Anderson, the trio of fast bowlers Overton and Oli Robinson can be seen in the first Test. Overton has played only one Test match so far in his career and took two wickets in it. Apart from him, uncapped leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who has been in the news a lot in the past, may also get a chance to make his Test debut.

Match Details

Match: PAK vs ENG, 1st Test, England tour of Pakistan, 2022

Date: Thursday, December 01, 2022 - Monday, December 05, 2022

Time: 10:00 AM IST

Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Pakistan

Pitch and Weather Report

Pakistan's Rawalpindi is a batter’s paradise as there is hardly any grass on the pitch. So skewed it is in the favor of the batters that it was awarded a demerit point and deemed `below average´ by the match officials after the latest game played here between PAK vs AUS. However, the Pakistani board claims to have made amends, and we can expect a more even contest between the bat and the ball in the first test.

Rawalpindi weather is expected to be mostly clear with no chance of rain and the temperature will hover between 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. 

PAK vs ENG Squads

PAK: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (VC & wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

ENG: Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed.

Probable Playing XIs

PAK: Azam (c), Rizwan (VC & wk), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shan Masood, Nauman Ali

ENG: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Liam Livingstone, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Jimmy Anderson.

Match Prediction

England is the stronger side on paper and we predict them to win this encounter. The visitors will be heading to Pakistan after 17 years for a test series so it is going to be a difficult challenge for them but they have a solid team who can overcome all tackles.

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