Stokes back as captain in England’s 17-member squad for Pakistan tour

Ben Stokes returned as England captain as the Men's selection panel announced a 17-member squad for the tour of Pakistan on September 10 (Tuesday). The venues for the three-Test tour, scheduled to begin with the first Test on October 7, are yet to be confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board, the media release from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said. 

Also Read: Multan and Rawalpindi to remain as venues for England Tests: Reports

Apart from Stokes, Zak Crawley, Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach, who missed England’s Tests against Sri Lanka recently, have made their comeback into the team. Leach has been included in the side for the first time since the Hyderabad Test against India in January this year. 

Apart from the usual faces in the English red-ball set-up, Josh Hull, Jordan Cox and Brydon Carse have been included in the side that will tour Pakistan for the second time in two years. It will be the first senior men's tour for Cox and Hull. 

Rehan, Harry Brook, Crawley, Ben Duckett, Leach, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, and Stokes are the eight players in the squad who were part of the side that beat Pakistan in Pakistan, the last time around they toured.

“Captain Stokes is also included as he continues his recovery from a hamstring tear that kept him out of the recent Test series victory against Sri Lanka,” read the ECB release. 

“The venues for the three-match series are yet to be confirmed, with an announcement expected from the Pakistan Cricket Board later this week,” it added. 

England are already languishing in sixth place in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. They are nearly out of the race to the finale having lost their last match of the summer against Sri Lanka. 

Even if they win their remaining six matches in the cycle, they could only get to 149 points out of a possible 268. This is considering that they would not add any more to their already 19 deducted points. Their percentage of points (pop) will increase as far as 56.43. 

So far, in the last two seasons, no team have made it to the final of the WTC with less than 58 percentage of points. Pakistan on the other hand are struggling big time and are at the eighth spot in the table. 

England squad for the Pakistan tour

Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes

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