In his remarks on Pakistan’s efforts to recover and secure a favourable outcome against England after the disappointing loss in the first Test in Multan, former captain Mohammad Hafeez expressed hope on Tuesday that the plan would work in Pakistan’s favour.
In a post on X, Hafeez said Pakistan team was looking for a winning formula in the Test match at a home ground by playing four spinners on a pitch used previously.
“Playing with 4 spinners team management fancy their hopes for square turner. Hoping this plan work in favour of Pakistan,” he tweeted.
A square turner in cricket is the pitch that helps ball produce a great deal of spin with turn.
The former cricketer shared list of the Pakistan playing XI for the second Test as well.
The Green Shirts had suffered a rather embarrassing defeat by an innings and 47 runs at the hands of the visitors in the first Test.
Following which Pakistan made changes to its 16-member squad by giving rest to senior players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Sarfaraz Ahmed. They have been replaced by young bloods.
The second Test is being played today at the Multan Cricket Stadium, same as the first match, whereas the third and last match of the series will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 24.
The English team will be led by their skipper Ben Stokes, who is making a comeback, following a hamstring injury. The all-rounder missed the entire five-day first Test due to being unfit.
Pakistan Playing XI
Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mehmood.
England Playing XI
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.