England make two changes for final Test match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi

Rehan Ahmed will play his first Test match in over 8 months as he returns to the playing XI for the Rawalpindi game. The other change witnesses seamer Gus Atkinson come back into the team. The two players who have been rested are Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts, who had played the last game in Multan. 

England had won the first Test match by an innings and 47 runs. For the first time in 147 years, a team scored 550 in their first innings only to lose by such a huge margin. England scored the 4th highest total in the longest format of the game with 823/7. Harry Brook scored a memorable triple ton while Joe Root scored 262. 

In the second game, Pakistan made a terrific comeback as they won by 152 runs. This Test win was their 1st at home for over 3 years. The home team had rested Babar Azam for the remainder of the series along with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. Sajid Khan and Noman Ali picked all 20 wickets to help the home team win the game. 

Harry Brook ready for the next challenge in Rawalpindi 

England’s batting star Harry Brook spoke to BBC and said the entire team was getting ready for the final game. The three lions had won the last series in Pakistan with a 3-0 margin with Brook making an immediate impact. 

Speaking to BBC, the England batter said, “We know it’s probably not going to swing and seam and do all sorts in the first session, so we look at the pitch and work out what the best team is going to be.”

Rehan Ahmed’s return to the team means that England will have 3 spinners in the team. The 20-year-old made his debut in Pakistan during the last tour and became the youngest Test debutant for England. Rehan Ahmed will join forces with Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir in the spin department. 

Speaking about the return Rehan Ahmed, the English batter said to BBC, “He’s an outstanding cricketer. It’s not just his bowling, but his batting and fielding. He’s a young lad so he has a lot of time to come. He got five-for in the last test here, so hopefully he can do that again.”

England XI for Rawalpindi Test

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