Test cricket returns to England after a gap of 2 months. We are in the second half of August and the tail-end of the English summer. England now prepares for their post-Bazball era by hosting Pakistan in a 3-match Test series. Ben Stokes retired from international cricket, while Brendon McCullum was sacked as the Test coach as he continues to helm the white-ball format.
England will be led by their talisman Joe Root as Harry Brook was thought to be too early to get the captaincy job in all three formats of the game. Brook will be vice-captain of the Test side while he will lead the limited overs team. Pakistan will be led in the series by Babar Azam but head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed confirmed that Babar will miss the first Test due to right finger injury. Salman Ali Agha will lead the team at Leeds. Both teams are all but out of WTC finals as they are placed in 7th, and 8th in the points table. The stage is set for an interesting contest weather permitting in Leeds.
Overview
The stage is set for Joe Root’s second innings as captain of England as he strides out to the middle in his home ground, Leeds, Headingley is set to host the first of three Test matches in this series between England and Pakistan. Babar Azam was set to lead Pakistan in this series but a right finger injury means he will miss this clash, and so Salman Ali Agha will lead the side out at Leeds.
Pakistan are coming off a 1-1 draw in the two-match Test series against West Indies in Trinidad. Young talent Abdullah Fazal missed the West Indies series due to a lower back injury and will also miss the England tour. Shan Masood hit a century in the first innings of that series, but was ruled out of the second game due to a finger injury. The former Test captain is now fit and ready to go at a venue where he has experience of playing County cricket. Saud Shakeel also had fitness concerns and missed the Caribbean series; he looks set to start in England after coming off an unbeaten match-winning ton against PCC Select XI a few days ago.
Imam-ul-Haq has looked in fine touch, while Abdullah Shafique, who made a comeback in the Test side in the second Test against the West Indies and scored a daddy hundred, has also looked in good form in the warm-up game. Azan Awais didn’t have the best of the warm-up game, but he has been batting decently recently. Stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha needs some runs, while keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has got starts, but he needs to score big.
Pakistan’s bowling attack will largely depend on Mohammad Abbas, who has extensive county-cricket experience and has taken plenty of wickets. Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali and Aamir Jamal will follow Abbas in the pace department, while all-rounder Ali Usman is likely to pip off-spinner Sajid Khan in the XI. Ubaid Shah and Awais Zafar, who debuted in the last Test, and Ghazi Ghori are expected to miss out.
England have made a few changes after Stokes’ retirement. Sam Curran was actually a like-for-like replacement for him, but the Surrey all-rounder isn’t yet ready to bowl long spells. In addition, the highly rated southpaw Jacob Bethell has been ruled out due to a right knee injury he sustained in the India ODI series earlier in the summer. Bethell’s injury has confirmed Jordan Cox’s number three position for the series opener.
Life has come full circle for Cox, whose Test debut was set in New Zealand in 2024, but a fracture in his right thumb ended his dream come true moment. Bethell then stepped in at number three, making his debut.
Now, Bethell is injured, and Cox, who batted at seven on his only Test appearance against the Kiwis earlier this summer, will bat at 3. Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay will open the innings. Duckett is in good nick, while Gay, who made 139 runs across six innings with just one fifty against NZ in his debut series, is coming off a pair in the warm-up game against Pakistan. Two local boys, Joe Root and Harry Brook, are in red-hot form and will continue to be the pillars of this team. Surrey all-rounder
Dan Lawrence has been recalled to the Test side for the first time since 2024 on the back of some fine numbers in the County Cricket and will take Stokes’ spot in the side.
Jamie Smith will don the gloves, despite his inconsistent form. Also making a comeback is Ollie Pope, though he is not expected to play in the first Test. He was left out midway through the Ashes series Down Under owing to his poor form. England’s bowling attack is looking world-class with Jofra Archer leading the pack. Ollie Robinson, who made a comeback into the Test side in the NZ series after a long gap, put on a show at Lord’s to pick up a fifer and claim the Player of the Match award, but missed the next game due to injury. He is now fit and is expected to return to the XI.
Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue have been in top form in the recently concluded Men’s Hundred. Both played a vital role in Manchester Super Giants’ title-winning season. It is a short turnaround between the Hundred final and this game, and it’s interesting to see whether England go with the two, or bring in the likes of Brydon Carse, Matthew Fisher or Sam Cook. Carse has also had a long injury lay-off since the Ashes series and recently returned to professional cricket in the last part of the T20 Blast.
He had a good The Hundred tournament with Sunrisers Leeds. Cook has also got a call-up, having played only one Test to date against Zimbabwe in 2025. Shoaib Bashir has been retained as a lone specialist spinner, but he hasn’t played much part in recent times.
The stage is set for the first Test, and it remains to be seen which team comes out on top at the end of this clash.
Head-To-Head
England and Pakistan have played against each other in a total of 92 matches in which England won 30 and Pakistan won 23 matches. 39 Tests ended in a draw. In the last 10 matches, it’s 6-4 to England. But Pakistan won 2 off the last 3 Test matches in October 2024 in Pakistan.
Pitch & Weather Report
The pitch at Leeds, Headingly appears fresh, lively and notably green with a good layer of grass. It is expected to offer significant lateral movement, early seam friendly support, and overhead swing for fast bowlers, particularly across the first two days. The bounce will be consistent though heavy rolling will firm up the surface. The team winning the toss will opt to bowl first is the preferred tactical choice to exploit early moisture and grass.
The weather at Leeds will be mostly mild with overcast skies overhead. Brief showers and light passing interruptions are likely to affect play on the opening two days. High humidity levels will assist swing bowlers and pose challenges for outfield fielding grip.
Probable Playing XIs of both sides.Â
Here, we will try and predict the playing XIs of both sides.
England XI: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root (c), Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Dan Lawrence, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue.
Pakistan XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Azan Awais, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Salman Ali Agha (c), Mohammed Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal/Khurram Shahzad, Ali Usman, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali.
Key Players to watch out for in this clash.Â
Joe Root: England’s best player is now back at the helm as captain of the side. Joe Root is their best batter and one of the greatest of the game. Batting at 4, he can control the innings and act as the linkage between the top order and middle order. He is a class apart and in any game in any format Root is the player to watch out for.
Jofra Archer: England’s spearhead Jofra Archer is going to be the key and will lead the pace attack for England. They have Robinson and Atkinson in their ranks, but Archer is the key. He is the one who can strike early and break the game wide open. He can rip Pakistan apart the top order without Babar Azam. So, he will be the key in this Test match.
Shan Masood: Shan Masood returns to the Test side and will play in front of his home county side at Leeds. He knows the conditions at the back of his mind and scored a Test ton in West Indies before getting injured. Shan will look to continue that rich vein of form and score runs for his side. With Babar not there, and him expected to bat at 4, his role will be the key going forward.
Mohammad Abbas: Mohammad Abbas is the leader of pack for Pakistan and comes in with tremendous County knowledge. So, he will know the English conditions and is expected to lead the attack. He had a good match against West Indies before being left out of the second Test match. He is Pakistan’s best bowler by a mile. So, he will hope to do well and put pressure on fragile England.
Key Stats and records to look out for in this clash.Â
- Joe Root has already held the record for captaining England the most times in Tests i.e. 64 in his first stint, followed by the interim gig against New Zealand in June. If he stays in the job through to the end of the next Ashes, he will draw level with Fleming (80) in third on the all-time list.
- England have won their last six Tests at Headingley, including beating Pakistan by an innings in 2018. Their last defeat came against West Indies the preceding summer- Root’s sixth Test as captain.
- Pakistan’s last series win in England came in 1996. Since then, they have drawn three and lost three- most recently going down 1-0 in the Covid summer of 2020.
Predicted/Possible Outcome of the Match.Â
It’s the clash of two teams that are struggling in the WTC cycle in 7th and 8th in the table. Both teams are all but out of the reckoning for the finals of WTC. But they have their strengths and weaknesses as well. It’s tough to call a winner in this clash. With Babar missing out, and England’s recent run at Leeds, we will give the home side the slight edge due to that. England will start as favourites, but not by a lot. Pakistan also will have their chance.
Let’s see how it goes as the first Test starts at Leeds, weather permitting.
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