The England bowlers Rehan Ahmed and Gus Atkinson have been recalled to England’s Playing 11 for the third test against Pakistan which is set to begin on October 22 at Rawalpindi.
Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts have been excluded from playing 11 for the decider match of the series. Ahmed made his test debut in Karachi in December 2022 and picked up five wickets in the third innings to help his side complete a 3-0 whitewash over the hosts.
Ahmed has picked 18 wickets in four tests at 34.50 joining Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir. Atkinson played a crucial role in England’s commanding win over Pakistan in the first test picking four wickets.
🔒Locked in: Our XI for the final Test pic.twitter.com/RNn82j4ZD4
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 22, 2024
He was instrumental in picking the wickets of Shan Masood and Babar Azam in the evening session on the fourth day to leave Pakistan for 41/3.
Ben Stokes has returned to cricket after nine weeks in the last test and bowled around 10 overs which were split five across Pakistan’s two innings.
Pakistan has taken several drastic measures over the last three days to make the Rawalpindi surface. Gas heaters were involved with windbreakers on each side which could favour spinners more.
England batter Harry Brook spoke about Rehan Ahmed saying, “He’s an outstanding cricketer – not just his bowling, but his batting and fielding.
“He’s a young lad so he has a lot of time to come. He got five-for in his last Test here, so hopefully he can do that again.”
The third match of the England-Pakistan tour will begin on October 24 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
England’s Playing 11 for Third Pakistan Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
