After securing a 2-1 victory over West Indies, the Hosts stayed in Manchester to kick start the last home assignment against Pakistan.
Team Preview
English camp is pretty fresh after two back to back victories at Old Trafford following a debacle in Southampton. Joe-Root side is likely to go ahead with the same XI, they played against West Indies in the last Test. The hosts have so many positives from the last series as Burns got runs in the last Test following Sibly’s hundred in 2nd Test. Stokes and Broad will be a big threat after a match-winning show at the same ground.
The Pakistani side arrived one month ago in the UK and participated in two intra-squad warm-up fixtures. The management is planning to add extra spinner on this track along with Yasir Shah. Babar Azam and Azhar Ali will guide the top-order as they were part of the last two-Test series in England.
Pitch Report
The Old Trafford offers a good amount of run and with the new ball, pacers can take advantage. The later the match progresses, the batting becomes easier. The surface also provides a bit of help to spin from the third day as the track gets dry. The weather is cloudy on Wednesday so we can expect a crunch game between bat and ball.
Predicted XI
Pakistan
Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam (VC), Abid Ali/Imam ul Haq, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf/Shadab Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Shinwari/Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah
England
Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes/Sam Curran, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Key Players
Pakistan
·Babar Azam
In WTC 2019-21 – M: 6, Runs: 615, Avg: 102.50
·Shaheen Shah Afridi
In WTC 2019-21 – M: 5, Wickets: 18, Avg: 25.66
England
·Ben Stokes
In West Indies series – M: 3, Runs: 343, Avg: 90.75
·Stuart Broad
In West Indies Series – M: 2, Wickets: 16, Avg: 10.94
