| Venue: Multan Dates: 9-13 December (05:00 GMT) |
| Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW, online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app. Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website. |
Pace bowler Mark Wood will return to the England team for the second Test against Pakistan, starting on Friday.
Wood, 32, replaces the injured Liam Livingstone in the only change from the side that won the first Test, meaning no place for Ben Foakes.
Regular wicketkeeper Foakes missed the first Test through illness and his stand-in Ollie Pope keeps the gloves.
England will seal their first series win against Pakistan outside of the UK for 22 years with victory in Multan.
Wood has not played a Test since March because of an elbow injury that kept him out of the home summer.
“Having someone in your squad who can bowl at 150 km/h is a massive bonus for any team around the world, especially as Pakistan is a very hard place to come and win,” said England captain Ben Stokes.
“Having someone of his calibre and what he brings will be massive for us. It will add to our ability to take 20 wickets.”
It is a blow for Foakes, who was originally named in the XI for the first Test, only to be ruled out on the morning of the game.
Stokes has repeatedly called the Surrey man “the best wicketkeeper in the world” and says his omission from this Test has no reflection on his future prospects, despite Pope and the injured Jonny Bairstow providing options behind the stumps.
“The selection is just for this Test,” said Stokes. “I’ll still keep saying he’s the best keeper in the world, so it must sound silly for us to not pick him.
“Adding Mark Wood into the side gives us a better chance of taking 20 wickets.
“We did say to Ben to not take this as anything for the future. We didn’t have this on our radar until the illness he unfortunately had before the first Test. This is definitely no sign for his future.”
