Pakistan stick with spin-heavy team for third and final Test against England

NEW DELHI: Pakistan decided to stick with their spin-heavy lineup for the third and final Test against England, set to take place on Thursday. Both teams are expecting a dry pitch, which favors slow bowlers.

Groundsmen have been working for the past four days using industrial-sized fans and outdoor heaters to dry out the track. This effort aligns with Pakistan captain Shan Masood's strategy to counter England's aggressive batting.

In the second Test, left-arm spinner Noman Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan took all 20 England wickets on a reused Multan pitch, bringing the series to 1-1.


England had dominated the first Test, winning by an innings after posting a record 823-7, highlighted by Harry Brook's triple century and Joe Root's career-best score of 262.

Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, Pakistan's third specialist slow bowler, bowled only six wicketless overs in England's first innings and was not needed in their second innings, where England collapsed for 144 runs against Ali and Khan. The match ended with Pakistan winning by 152 runs.

"It (the wicket) is very dry with not a lot of grass on it," said Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie on Wednesday. "We probably expect it to favor the slower bowlers."

The toss is expected to play a crucial role, with spinners likely taking charge as the game advances.

"It (the toss) is a 50-50 call, you always want it to go your way," Gillespie stated. "Both teams will have that mindset but, yeah, we'll see."

Anticipating a spin-friendly wicket, England has recalled leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed to join the slow bowling attack alongside Jack Leach's left-arm spin and Shoaib Bashir's off-spin.

"Who knows what's going to happen?" said England captain Ben Stokes after their final training session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. "It looks a very good wicket at the moment (but) with some cricket on it, it might change. We feel the longer it goes, more spin is going to come into play."

Shoaib Bashir has replaced Matthew Potts in the England squad, while Gus Atkinson will step in for the rested fast bowler Brydon Carse.

Reverse swing with the old ball might be less effective due to a greener square on both sides of the wicket.

"The square is very lush and green," said Stokes. "It's going to be hard to manufacture reverse swing. The longer the games goes on, the more spin is going to come in."

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.