Brighton/Hove – July 7, 2016: Pakistan named its eleven for the second three-day game against Sussex from July 8-10 here, leading up to the first Test at Lord’s, which commences on July 14.
There are three changes in the line-up that played in the first three-day game, all of them in bowling.
The batting order that took on Somerset at Taunton has been retained as it was, but of the four-man bowling unit only fast bowler Sohail Khan is to feature in his second three-day game on the bounce, with pacers Wahab Riaz and Imran Khan coming in place of Mohammad Amir and Rahat Ali with leggie Yasir Shah making way for left-arm slow Zulfiqar Babar.
The thrust obviously is on finding the best bowling combination ahead of the Lord’s Test while giving the settled batting line-up another opportunity to acclimatize and brush up its skills in these environs, which are so different from conditions back home and the UAE, Pakistan cricket’s home for away series these past few years.
Mickey Arthur Quote:
Announcing the team, head coach Mickey Arthur said: “We had a pretty decent outing against Somerset. I would expect everyone shall maintain and improve on standards on display at Taunton in batting, bowling and fielding. We have to keep up with the benchmarks we have achieved so far, with the same intensity. Slacking off at any point would not be acceptable”.
The Eleven:
Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Imran Khan.
