Ben Stokes to miss second Test against Pakistan? England skipper shares fitness update

England and Pakistan are currently playing the first Test in Multan. Ben Stokes has missed out on due to the hamstring injury he suffered during the Hundred tournament. The England Test skipper has hinted that he could miss the 2nd test match as well. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Stokes revealed “I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this 1st game. I have taken the call to miss this one. I have not quite managed to get game-ready. There is a lot that has to go into my rehab program. We got to a certain point, but looking at the bigger picture of what we have coming up and physically where I am at, I am not ready to play yet.”

This will be music to the ears of many England cricket fans. The first Test ends on 11th October with the 2nd set to start on 15th October. Multan are hosting the first two games of the series with Rawalpindi set to host the final game. 

Ben Stokes though sounded hopeful during his chat with Sky Sports, "It's always frustrating to miss out. I've got some good things to focus on. So even though I am not playing I have a goal in mind. Got a few days to get myself ready for the second game."

Shan Masood leads Pakistan to strong start 

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first on what looked like a batting-friendly wicket. At lunch, the home were placed at 122/1 from 25 overs with Saim Ayub the lone wicket to fall. The left-handed batter was out for 4 caught by Jamie Smith off Gus Atkinson. 

Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood added 114 unbeaten runs for the 2nd wicket in 128 balls. Shoaib Bashir bowled 6 overs and was smashed for 42 runs with Jack Leach bowling just a single over. 

Both Pakistani batters went after the English bowling with Masood in particular playing aggressively. Abdullah Shafique was batting on 53 runs off 82 balls with five fours and one six. Shan Masood was on 61 off 59 balls with 7 fours in his knock. 

Debutant bowler Brydon Carse bowled five overs and clocked close to 90 miles per hour. The right-arm pacer went wicketless and gave away 21 runs. Chris Woakes had bowled 6 overs and conceded 26 runs, while Atkinson bowled 7 overs for 1 wicket and gave away 32 runs.