Pakistan announce squad for second Test against England
The Pakistan Cricket Board have announced an unchanged 16-man squad to take on England in the second Test against England starting from tomorrow at the Ageas Bowl.
Here is the list of players:
Azhar Ali (c)
Babar Azam (vc)
Shan Masood
Abid Ali
Imam ul-Haq
Asad Shafiq
Fawad Alam
Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk)
Kashif Bhatti
Shadab Khan
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Abbas
Naseem Shah
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Sohail Khan
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Meanwhile, England have called up Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson in their 14-man squad for the second Test in place of Ben Stokes, who had to leave the bio-bubble to travel to New Zealand due to personal issues. Dan Lawrence, too, had to leave England’s bio-bubble due to a family bereavement.
Joe Root said of Robinson’s inclusion, “I think his performances have rightly given him the opportunity to be part of this squad. It’s a brilliant achievement for him to be part of this squad and testament to him for the performances he’s put in for the last couple of years.”
Ollie Robinson took 8 wickets against Hampshire in their Bob Willis Trophy match
“Over a long period of time we’re going to need a battery of fast bowlers and highly-skilled bowlers and he’s definitely in that bracket. He’s been wonderful for Sussex for a long period of time now and deserves to be where he is right now.”
Root also mentioned that James Anderson is very much likely to be included in the XI. He said, “Jimmy is likely to play, yes,” before asking the press rhetorically, “Wouldn’t you give him the opportunity with nearly 600 wickets?”
He continued, “To get that stuff off his chest and talked about has definitely helped him. With Jimmy it won’t be long before he’s right back at the peak of his powers and I’m very much looking forward to him performing this week. I don’t think it will be long before he’s got another five-for beside his name.”
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England squad for 2nd Test:
Joe Root (c)
James Anderson
Jofra Archer
Dominic Bess
Stuart Broad
Rory Burns
Jos Buttler (wk)
Zak Crawley
Sam Curran
Ollie Pope
Ollie Robinson
Dom Sibley
Chris Woakes
Mark Wood