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England vs Pakistan 3rd Test Predicted XI: What are the changes expected
Pakistan ended up losing the first Test from a dominant position while the second Test was drawn without much action due to rain and bad light. Now they head into Friday’s third Test facing a first series defeat against England in 10 years.
If anybody had placed a bet saying Pakistan would go into the third final Test against England trying to save the series ahead of Day 5 of the first Test, chances are he would have earned enough for at least a couple of months by now. Whether was brave enough is unknown but Pakistan are going into the third Test Southampton, starting Friday 0-1 down.
Pakistan ended up losing the first Test from a dominant position while the second Test was drawn without much action due to rain and bad light. Now they head into Friday’s third Test facing a first series defeat against England in 10 years.
The lack of action in the second match -- Pakistan had bowled just 43.1 overs in England’s first innings when a draw was agreed -- should mean a first-choice pace attack of Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah are all fit and firing for Friday’s finale at the Ageas Bowl.
READ | England vs Pakistan third Test preview: Hosts look to clinch series before step into unknown
Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq was confident fatigue would not have been an issue in any event, with the former captain, in a blog for the Pakistan Cricket Board’s website, writing that “fitness has been an important part of our strategy as a team” since he took charge in September.
Despite little play in the second Test, Misbah was heartened by the determination of Mohammad Rizwan, who top-scored with 72, the resilience of Pakistan’s top-order in “testing conditions” and the fact an attack featuring leg-spinner Yasir Shah took four wickets.
Pakistan in all probability will field an unchanged side in the third Test.
Pakistan Predicted XI for 3rd Test: 1 Shan Masood, 2 Abid Ali, 3 Azhar Ali (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Mohammad Abbas, 11 Naseem Shah
England face another selection dilemma. There will be a strong temptation to stick with the tried and tested pace trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, so effective in the kind of overcast English conditions that are likely to be a factor in the third Test as they were in the second.
But with English cricket constantly obsessing about the next Ashes series, a 2021/22 tour of Australia, team management would like to give express fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood more Test-match game time before they head ‘Down Under’.
“It’s very difficult,” said England coach Chris Silverwood.
“You look at what you need for the here and now and you look down the line for what we potentially need (in Australia).
“It’s a difficult balance to get...There’s various factors we look at and pace is one of them: it’s pace, movement, bounce, left or right arm...all these things come into account.”
England Predicted XI: 1 Rory Burns, 2 Dom Sibley, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Ollie Pope, 6 Jos Butler (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Dom Bess, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 Jofra Archer
(With agency inputs)
