Pakistan will have their task cut out when they take on a strong England outfit, led by Ben Stokes, in the third and final Test today (Saturday, December 17) at the National Stadium in Karachi. Not to forget, the Babar Azam-led PAK came agonisingly close to win the first two Tests played at Rawalpindi and Multan. However, they failed to close the games. The energy to finish games on Day 5 of the Test match is what missing in the home team. They are, of course, missing the services of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, who have time and again won many games for Pakistan across formats. But the dependency on them is huge and which is also telling now looking at the performance of the Men in Green when they are not available.
Ben Stokes has already made up his mind. He feels England can go back home as a proud Test cricket nation after inflicting a 3-0 whitewash on Pakistani soil for the first time. This is already a historic series with England touring Pakistan for the first time in 17 years and Stokes and Co made to add another chapter to the history books by becoming the first England side to make a clean sweep here in a Test series.
Head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Stokes have made up their mind that they are going to give Rehan Ahmed a debut in third Test, making him the youngest-ever debutant for England in the format. Rehna is just 18 and is a spin-bowling all-rounder. It will be interesting to see how Rehan goes in his first Test. He will take comfort from the fact that the series is already sealed by England and they he has so many seniors to reply upon.
Our team for our final Test of the year! ________#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/B7Rh4S294o
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 16, 2022
Captain: Ben Stokes
Vice-Captain: Joe Root
Wicketkeeper: Mohammad Rizwan
Batters: Babar Azam, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root
Allrounders: Ben Stokes, Mohammad Nawaz
Bowlers: Abrar Ahmed, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Zahid Mahmood
Pakistan’s Predicted Playing 11: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Ali
England’s Predicted Playing 11: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Mark Wood, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson