PAK vs ENG Head-to-Head, Playing XI, Preview, Where to Watch on TV, Online, and Live Streaming Details for 1st Test

England and Pakistan will kick start December by taking on each other for the first Test of the historic three-match series. England will be touring Pakistan for a Test series for the first time in 17 years as the two teams are set to lock horns at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on December 1, Thursday. England defeated Pakistan at the T20 World Cup finals earlier this month and will be looking to dominate in the red-ball format too.

England had a terrific summer as the team, under Ben Stokes’ captaincy and Brendon McCullum’s mentorship won six out of seven Test matches that they played. England announced a strong playing XI for the first game and included 29-year-old Liam Livingstone, who is all set to make his Test debut and become the 708^th player to represent the team in Tests.

Pakistan’s squad looks tight too, and they will have the advantage of playing at home. Pakistan have previously hosted England for 22 Test matches, the last of which came in 2005, and England have won only two of those games while drawing 16 games and losing four. While England have their pace spearhead James Anderson, Pakistan will be missing the services of Shaheen Afridi.

England last played a Test against South Africa and won the game by nine wickets in September 2022, while Pakistan last played a Test in July 2022 against Sri Lanka and lost by a huge margin of 246 runs. England and Pakistan last faced each other in a Test match back in August 2020 in Southampton and the match ended in a draw.

Pitch and Conditions

The Pindi cricket stadium has hosted 12 Test matches to date Out of these, the team batting second has won six games, while the team batting first has only won two games. Here, batting first produces an average score of 312. Both teams will strive to get to a total above 300 runs.

Probable Playing XI for PAK vs ENG 1st Test

Pakistan

Pakistan will try to create a strong lineup to face the in-form and high-flying England. Babar Azam has been one of the finest batters for Pakistan in the format, and his batting prowess will be much required for the side.

Probable Playing XI- Babar Azam (c), Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Abdullah Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed

England

England faced a blow when Mark Wood was ruled out of the first game, but they named a strong starting lineup. Liam Livingstone is set to make his debut and Harry Brook continues his place at number five. England will be riding on the experience of pacer James Anderson.

Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Liam Livingstone, Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson

PAK vs ENG Head-to-Head in Tests

Played- 86 | Pakistan- 21 | England- 26 | Draw- 39 |

PAK vs ENG Broadcast Details

Match Timings- 10.30 AM IST, 9.30 AM LOCAL

Live Broadcast- Sony Sports Network

Live Streaming – SonyLIV App (Paid Subscription)