England have announced their playing XI for the decisive third Test against Pakistan, set to begin on Thursday in Rawalpindi. With the three-match series tied, both teams are looking to secure a win, and England have made two changes to their lineup in preparation for the clash.

Seamer Gus Atkinson makes his return to the side, providing an additional pace option for England’s bowling attack. Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is also included, marking his first appearance since playing against India in Rajkot earlier this year.

Both players will be key in helping England challenge Pakistan on what is expected to be a turning pitch. Missing out on the final XI are Durham duo Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts, who were part of the second Test in Multan.

England’s squad features a mix of experience and youth, with captain Ben Stokes leading the side. The batting order remains solid with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett at the top, followed by Ollie Pope, Joe Root, and Harry Brook.

Jamie Smith retains his spot, while Jack Leach is set to lead the spin attack alongside Ahmed. Shoaib Bashir, another key spinner, rounds out the bowling lineup.

As the teams prepare for this crucial match, England will be eager to finish the series on a high note after strong performances in the earlier Tests. Both teams will be looking to exploit the conditions in Rawalpindi to clinch the series victory.

New Zealand sealed their first test win in India since 1988 after chasing down a tricky target in hostile conditions to overcome the hosts by eight wickets on the final day of the first test on Sunday.

After dismissing India for their lowest home total of 46 and making 402 in reply, New Zealand bowled out Rohit Sharma’s side for 462 in the second innings to lay the platform for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Will Young (48 not out) and Rachin Ravindra (39 not out) remained calm in the pressure storm after the loss of two early wickets to help New Zealand score the 107 needed, earning their team only a third win on Indian soil in 69 years.

That New Zealand achieved the famous result in the absence of injured batting mainstay Kane Williamson was credit to their belief, as they became only the third team after England and Australia to beat India at home since 2013.

Pace bowlers Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke claimed a combined 15 wickets in the match.

“It was extremely difficult,” said new captain Tom Latham, who took the role permanently after Tim Southee stepped down following their 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka last month.

“There have been a lot of teams that have come here over a long period of time. It was 36 years ago that we last won here so it’s a really special feeling to be in this position.

“The work we did in the first and second innings with the ball and bat really set the game up for us. It’s a proud moment for this group and one we’ll celebrate.”

New Zealand got off to a bad start when play began after a rain delay when Latham fell lbw to Jasprit Bumrah to the second ball of the day for a duck.

Bumrah and fellow pace bowler Mohammed Siraj made life difficult for the New Zealand batsmen, as India looked to do what no team have done in test history and win a match after conceding a first-innings lead of more than 350 runs.

Devon Conway endured painful body blows, balls that whizzed past the blade and unfriendly glares from the bowlers amid jeers from partisan fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium before falling lbw to Bumrah for 17.

The wicket appeared to turn placid after the arrival of first-innings centurion Ravindra, and the Wellington-born left-hander with roots in Bengaluru superbly steered New Zealand out of rough waters before Young hit the winning runs.

Rohit rued India’s batting effort in the first innings but took the positives from their second, where Sarfaraz Khan made 150 and Rishabh Pant hit 99 to give them a fighting chance to avoid only a fifth home loss in 11 years.

“It was brilliant, especially being behind in the game.

It’s easy to let the game drift away but that’s not what this team is about.

This team wants to fight back, stay in the game as long as possible and not give in to the opposition,” Rohit said.

“I thought except the first couple of hours, three hours (on day one), we played very good test cricket.”

The series, which also features matches in Pune and Mumbai, is part of the World Test Championship.

India arrived in Bengaluru seeking a big win over the 2021 champions to improve their chances of making a third successive final in June 2025, but will now need to battle to keep alive their run of 18 straight home series victories since 2012.

England were dismissed for 291 on Thursday, largely due to Sajid Khan’s outstanding bowling performance, claiming seven wickets in the first innings.

Resuming at 239-6, Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse were at the crease, but both batsmen failed to provide much resistance. England’s innings quickly wrapped up, with Jack Leach remaining unbeaten on 25.

Pakistan now hold a lead of 75 runs after their first-innings total of 366.

A day earlier, England had taken control of the match with Ben Duckett’s century leading the visitors’ strong response to Pakistan’s opening score. However, Sajid’s brilliance has turned the tide in Pakistan’s favor.

The right-arm off-break bowler dismissed centurion Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root and Ollie Pope to turn the tide in favour of the hosts.

Before that, the Shan Masood-led side got out for 366 with debutant Kamran Ghulam top-scoring for the hosts with a fluent 118 and Saim Ayub contributing 77.

Spinner Jack Leach (4-114) and seamer Brydon Carse (3-50) impressed with the ball for England, who are 1-0 up in the three-Test series.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir

Former England captain Nasser Hussain criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the board announced the exclusion of the former skipper Babar Azam from the second Test against England.

The former English captain highlighted the inconsistency of the board, which makes it hard to predict the future of the national team.

In regard to this he stated that there have been significant changes in the team, adding that constant upheaval hinders long-term planning.

“Pakistan has seen the replacement of 27 selectors, frequent changes in board heads, and the shifting of team captains, which has disrupted stability within the organisation,” he said. “No institution can succeed with such frequent changes.”

Continuing his conversation, the 56-year-old expressed dissatisfaction with the exclusion of the star batter Babar Azam.

He said: “After witnessing just one poor performance, how can you exclude someone in the mid of the series. Also, such decisions should be taken either before or after the series ends.”

“The issue is not with Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, or Naseem Shah. The real problem is with how Pakistan cricket is being run,” Hussain said.

Moreover, the commentator wasn’t happy with the Pakistan cricket repeatedly making decisions that are detrimental to its progress.

England declared their first innings at a mammoth 823-7 before tea on the fourth day of the opening Test against Pakistan on Thursday for a lead of 267 runs.

Harry Brook notched up a superb 317 with a triple century and Joe Root hit 262 as both batsmen made their highest Test scores on the flat wicket at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Resuming their innings from 492-3 on the fourth day of the first Test, Root and Brook overhauled Pakistan’s 556-run total by reaching 658-3 at lunch.

The visitors built a first innings lead of 102 runs with Root on 259 not out and Brook unbeaten on 218. The score marks the highest test score for both batsmen.

Both players took their fourth-wicket partnership to 409 off 488 deliveries at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Shan Masood-led line-up faced a setback as the team’s leg-spinner Abrar Ahmad didn’t come out on the field due to fever.

The spinner has so far been wicketless in his 35 overs where he conceded 174 runs.

Furthermore, the team also missed out on dismissing Root as Babar Azam dropped a sitter as the right-handed batter attempted a pull shot on the leg side off Naseem Shah’s bowling.

Starting out at 32*, Root surpassed his former teammate and skipper Alastair Cook’s tally of 12,472 as he continued to demonstrate his prowess on the field a day earlier.

Root also became the first batsman from his country to make 20,000 international runs in the morning session with a driven boundary.

In reaching the milestone, Root went past Cook again with only Wally Hammond ahead of him in England’s list with seven double tons.

Brook then became the latest member of the club to delight the travelling English fans, who stayed on their feet to cheer when Root eased to his 250 with a scooped boundary in the same over bowled by Shah.

Television replays showed the ball had struck Root’s pads but the 33-year-old did not complain and went on to better his previous best of 254.

The spinner has so far been wicketless in his 35 overs where he conceded 174 runs.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

Pakistan cricket team on Monday recovered in the first Test against England courtesy of captain Shan Masood’s century on the opening day at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the national side suffered an early blow with opener Saim Ayub (4) getting caught behind against Gus Atkinson.

However, Masood and opener Abdullah Shafique’s 114-run stand steered the national side to 122-1 at lunch.

Currently, the score is 189-1 with Masood (109*) and Shafique (72*) on the crease.

The match, first of the three-match series, is being played at the Multan Cricket Stadium and is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

During the match today, Masood was given a lbw after a delivery by Brydon Carse in the debutant seamer’s second over, but the batter reviewed the decision and got it overturned after replays confirmed the ball had pitched outside the leg stump.

Masood went on to take two runs off Atkinson to race to a 43-ball fifty.

Shafique got a reprieve on 35 when he went for a risky single and England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s direct throw narrowly missed the stumps.

England’s regular captain Ben Stokes missed the test with a hamstring injury.

It is to be noted that England are being led by Ollie Pope in the first Test after the visitors’ captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the contest due to a hamstring injury in the Hundred League.

Moreover, James Anderson, is not accompanying the team on their tour of Pakistan, as he is participating in the Scotland’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The last time England were in Pakistan for a red-ball series, they handed a 3-0 defeat to the national side back in 2022.

Before that, the visitors had played 24 Tests in Pakistan, winning just two out of them making the 3-0 win much more remarkable.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir