He looks great...": James Anderson provides fitness update on Ben Stokes

James Anderson and Ben Stokes. Pics/AFP

Former England pace legend and current bowling coach James Anderson provided a fitness update on Test skipper Ben Stokes, saying that the star players looks great while bowling in nets as he prepares to make his comeback to the game following a hamstring injury sustained in August.

Stokes has been ruled out of the Multan Test on Monday after he failed to recover from his hamstring injury. Earlier in August, Stokes suffered a hamstring injury during The Hundred. This ruled him out of England's triumph against Sri Lanka (2-1) and it was Ollie Pope who led the side in the veteran's absence.

Speaking to BBC as quoted by Wisden, Anderson said, "He looks great. He has worked really hard on his fitness and is looking as strong as I've ever seen him... Knowing Ben, once he gets into the game, there will be no stopping him. He's just that sort of player. He's good to go: we'll just have to wait and see what he can do in the game."

With Pakistan now using the pitch used during the first Test for the second match, Anderson is hopeful that Stokes could make a comeback for the match and the team will have less reliance on their third seamer. The track is expected to have a lot of cracks and hence be useful much more for spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir, along with the handy Joe Root.

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Anderson also feels that using an old surface could be useful for the visitors, saying, "When we are talking about Ben's workloads and his bowling, it might play into our hands with that, with the spinners potentially playing more of a part... We do not know what we are going to get."

In the first Test, England became the first team to ever take a first innings lead of over 200 runs after conceding over 550 in the first innings. Pakistan by contrast became the first team to lose a Test match by an innings after scoring over 500 runs in the first innings, thanks to England's 823/7d, the fourth-highest Test innings total of all time, and the highest in the 21st century. Shaheen could get only one wicket while Naseem got two. Both went for a lot of runs.

The result moved England to fourth on the World Test Championship table to keep hopes of a Final spot alive, and consigned Pakistan to last place in the standings with a possible points percentage of just 16.67 per cent.

Following extensive conversations held by a newly-formed selection committee, some of Pakistan's most well-renowned players will miss the second Test in Multan against England in a host of changes. Babar Azam headlines numerous changes made by a newly-formed selection committee in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan's humbling innings defeat in the first Test on Friday, which came despite them posting runs in excess of 550 runs in their first innings. Pace-bowling duo Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi are also out of the squad, as is keeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who dealt with illness and was subsequently taken to hospital during the first Test, will also sit out, as per ICC.

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