England vs Pakistan – England unchanged, bowl as Pakistan name three debutants

Toss England win toss and chose to bowl vs Pakistan

England have won the toss and opted to bowl first in the third and final Test of Pakistan’s tumultuous tour.

Pakistan, after making sweeping changes to their squad and coaching staff following their 194-run defeat in the second Test, have brought in four players to their starting XI with three debutants in wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori, and pace bowlers Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah. Saim Ayub also comes in to open the batting.

England delayed naming their XI until the toss but are unchanged from the side which won the previous two Tests, the first of those by an innings and 103 runs.

“We wanted to try and replicate what we’ve been doing,” Root said. “We’ve put in two brilliant performances. We want to build on that and become a team that’s used to winning. We’ve got a very different team to play against this week… This isn’t an experiment, this is about winning Test matches.”

Play was set to begin in overcast conditions, which drove Root’s decision at the toss.

Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain, said he had tried to focus on preparing for the match rather than “outside noise”.

“It’s good opportunity for the new boys and we are trying to do our best in this match,” he said. “Outside noise is not in our control, we are just trying to prepare for this match and just think and look after ourselves.”

England: 1 Emilio Gay, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jordan Cox, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Harry Brook, 6 Dan Lawrence, 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Ollie Robinson, 11 Josh Tongue.

Pakistan: 1 Azan Awais, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Abdullah Shafique, 4 Shan Masood, 5 Babar Azam (capt), 6 Saud Shakeel, 7 Ghazi Ghori (wk), 8 Mohammad Imran Randhawa, 9 Razaullah, 10 Mohammad Ali, 11 Mohammad Abbas.

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