MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — England cricket captain Ben Stokes was selected Monday for the second test against Pakistan in Multan after recovering from a torn hamstring that kept him out for two months.
Stokes is one of two changes to the team that won a remarkable first test of the series, which was also played in Multan.
Matt Potts was recalled, too, with fellow fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes left out. The match starts Tuesday.
Stokes sustained his hamstring injury in August, forcing him out of the entire series when England beat Sri Lanka 2-1. He had played in all three tests in the series against the West Indies, which was won 3-0 by his team in July.
“I like to keep myself in a positive mindset and it allows me telling myself, ‘When you get back onto the field, make sure that you’re fitter than you were when you got injured,’” Stokes said in a news conference.
“You won’t see me miss any test match unless I’m injured.”
Ollie Pope took the captaincy in Stokes’ absence, winning three of his four matches in interim control, including the first test in Multan when Pakistan became the first team to lose a test after scoring more than 500 runs when batting first.
England replied by scoring 823-7 declared in its first innings — the fourth-highest total in the history of test cricket — to lay the platform for a famous victory.
For Stokes, it summed up the so-called “Bazball” approach England has adopted since Brendon McCullum arrived as coach in 2022.
“We always try and play to make sure there’s a result,” all-rounder Stokes said. “Sometimes there are moments in the games where we might have to do something a little bit out of the ordinary to keep the game alive so that both teams have a chance of winning.
“That’s how, with me being captain and Baz being coach, that’s how we both view that cricket should be the winner.”
Potts last played for England’s test team in the second test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, though he did feature in the recent ODI series against Australia.
Stokes said he could bowl if necessary, so he and Potts will freshen up the seam attack, with Atkinson and Woakes rested after playing all six tests over the summer and the first two tests against Pakistan coming back-to-back.
The first test was hard on pace bowlers because the pitch offered little to seamers. According to Stokes, the second test is set to be played on the same strip.
“I’ll be surprised if we turn up tomorrow and we’re playing a different one,” said Stokes, who added that it would be “the first time ever” he has played consecutive tests on the same wicket.
“We could sit here and say, ‘It’s definitely going to do this, it is definitely going to do that,’ but who knows? You’d like to think that it’s going to offer the spinners a little bit more than it did last week.”
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England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
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