Rehan Ahmed has been added to England’s XI for the third Test match against Pakistan, where they plan to use three frontline spinners. Gus Atkinson is the other player to return from the squad and participate in the second test match in Multan. They take the position of Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse, who are quick bowlers.
Ahmed missed the entire English summer and last played for England in India. In December 2022, he made his Test debut in Karachi, where he claimed five wickets in the third innings to assist his team in defeating the hosts 3-0, their first-ever clean sweep in the format at home.
Ahmed has taken 18 wickets at 34.50 in four Test matches so far. He joins Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, who have taken the most wickets in the series with 14. Bet pro login and see all cricket highlights.
Taking four wickets for 136 runs on the most benign ground the hosts have laid since the format’s return to the nation, Atkinson was instrumental in England’s decisive victory over Pakistan in the first Test.
In the fourth day’s evening session, he played a crucial role in getting the ball to reverse and dismissed Shan Masood and Babar Azam, leaving Pakistan at 41 for 3.
Atkinson’s ability to bowl at high speeds of 140 kph will undoubtedly test Pakistan, even though reverse swing may not be as vital as it was in Multan because the ground staff has left the square plush. Ben Stokes, the captain of England, is the other pacer in the starting lineup. He made his cricket comeback after a nine-week break in the most recent Test match, bowling ten overs evenly distributed over Pakistan’s two innings.
Over the past three days, Pakistan has made several radical steps to get the Rawalpindi surface, which has traditionally favored seamers over spinners, closer to Multan’s. As it did in Multan before the second Test, the ground crew has set up industrial fans on both ends.
To speed up the drying process, they installed gas heaters down the strip and used windbreakers on both sides to trap the heat on the 22-year-olds. Despite all this, England istable that the pitch will help the spinners more.
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Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamies Smith, Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir, and Zak Crawley make up the England starting lineup.
