Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test match against England at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali said, "We can’t control the weather but we are clear in our heads. We are going with two spinner and three seamers, with Shadab as an allrounder. If you come to England you want to bowl fuller and make the batsmen play. We have bowlers who can hit the seam. We are thankful to ECB for the facilities they have given us and we are ready to go."
Meanwhile, England captain Joe Root quipped, "We’ve tried to make the most of the practice days, we’ve come in unchanged, we’d probably have batted first. Ben is not quite 100% fit and it’s too big a risk, but his runs have been invaluable and he’s a huge part of the dressing room."
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Here are the playing XIs -
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah.
England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
