MULTAN, Pakistan — In a historic move, the Pakistan cricket team, known for its spin dominance, won the toss and decided to bat in the second Test match against England on Tuesday.

Ben Stokes made his comeback as the captain of the England team after recovering from a torn hamstring. The visitors opted for two changes in their squad, following their impressive victory by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test last week.

Stokes replaced Chris Woakes, while Matthew Potts stepped in for Gus Atkinson, who had last played in a Test against Sri Lanka earlier at Lord’s in August.

On the other hand, Pakistan has been struggling, currently enduring an 11-match winless streak on home soil. The team made four changes in light of their disappointing performance, which included being the first Test-playing nation to lose a match despite scoring over 500 runs in their first innings.

Notably, four senior players, including the out-of-form Babar Azam, were rested for the remaining two Tests of the series. In his place at number four, Kamran Ghulam received his Test debut. Pakistan also brought in a spin trio of Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, and Zahid Mahmood, who have not played first-class cricket in nine months. Salman Ali Agha and Saim Ayub were available as additional spin options for the team.

Unfortunately for Pakistan, leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was ruled out of the series as he fell ill during the first Test and required hospitalization.

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Lineups:

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

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

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