Pakistan vs England: Ben Stokes ready to bowl more on ‘raked’ pitch

After England won a run-filled first Test of this series, Pakistan opted to reuse the same pitch in Multan for the second Test. Their spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan shared all 20 wickets as the hosts levelled the series.

Captain Shan Masood expressed a desire for the Rawalpindi pitch to turn, and pictures emerged on social media on Sunday of the surface being dried with industrial-sized fans, heaters and windbreaks.

Stokes had no objections to the preparation methods, but he also said it is “pretty obvious” the pitch has been raked.

“I’ve never been a groundsman, but you’d think a rake would assist the spin,” said Stokes. “We can have a good guess which ends the Pakistan spinners will operate from.

“There’s not too much grass to hold everything together. It will be interesting to see how it goes. It will be a pretty good wicket for the first couple of days, at least.”

Ahmed, then aged 18, became the youngest man to play a Test for England in the final match of the series in Pakistan in 2022, marking his debut with a five-wicket haul.

The Leicestershire bowler has played three more Tests since, the last of which came against India in Rajkot in February. He has taken 18 wickets at an average of 34.5.

“Leg-spinners have an amazing ability to break a game open,” said Stokes. “Having his batting ability lower down the order is also a massive bonus.

“The way Leach and Bashir have bowled has been fantastic in these first two Tests. Adding Rehan’s free spirit and desperation to change the game every time he’s got the ball in his hand is a massive bonus for us this week.”