England captain Ben Stokes braced for spin battle in decisive third Test
The series with Pakistan is locked at 1-1.
England captain Ben Stokes may have wondered whether Pakistan employed ground staff or gardeners ahead of the decisive third Test at Rawalpindi after concluding the hosts had been raking the pitch to assist their spinners.
Patio-style heaters, windbreaks and industrial fans have been used in recent days to bake the surface and replicate the turning conditions that helped Pakistan square the series on a reused wicket in Multan last week.
England had their first look at the track on Tuesday morning and were surprised to find uneven ridges at both ends, positioned on a good length and thought to be the result of extra attention from the team of curators working under Australian Tony Hemming.
Stokes appeared relaxed about Pakistan’s use of home advantage, with England attempting to fight fire with fire by recalling Rehan Ahmed as part of a three-pronged spin attack.
The leg-spinner joins slow left-armer Jack Leach and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in the XI, with seamer Gus Atkinson also back as Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts stand down.
But the toss once again looks to be vital, with England expecting things to happen in a hurry once cracks open up and the surface deteriorates.
“It’s pretty obvious there’s been a few rakes put across it. It will be interesting to see how it goes,” Stokes said.
“I’ve never been a groundsman, but you’d think a rake would assist the spin. You look down it and we can have a pretty good guess which ends the Pakistan spinners will operate from.
“There’s not too much grass to hold everything together, (with) a couple of days’ traffic on there, foot holes and stuff like that. But it’s good, isn’t it?”
Batter Harry Brook made similar observations, adding with a smile: “They’ve had the rakes out, the fans and the heaters on the pitch.
“It’s interesting and it’s unique. I’d say it will be a good pitch for the first day, two days maybe, then it will start spinning. God knows, to be honest.”
The main beneficiary of the home side’s methods is Ahmed, who has been drafted in for his first appearance in eight months to help turn the tables on Pakistan.
He became England’s youngest ever men’s Test player in the final match of the 2022 series, taking the field in Karachi at the age of 18 years and 126 days and celebrating with a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
Now 20, he has earned just four further caps but is seen as a wildcard option who can help make things happen.
“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,” said Stokes.
“Leg-spinners have an amazing ability to break a game open. The way Leachy and Bash have bowled has been fantastic in these first two Tests…you’ve got your slow left-arm spinner, your off-spinner and then you want to pick someone who isn’t a luxury, but someone who’s there to be able to break things open when you feel like it might be coming a little bit too easy at one end.
“You’d rather have that and not need it than need it and not have it.”
Tilting the balance of the side towards spin means room for only one frontline quick alongside Stokes, the all-rounder, and the shirt reverts to Atkinson.
England resisted the temptation to stick with newcomer Carse after a pair of exciting performances in Multan, instead keeping with their rotation policy in taxing temperatures.
“He’s had two amazing Tests, but it’s hard toil playing two Tests back to back, especially in the role he’s been used,” Stokes explained.
“He’s got a little bit of a sore, bruised heel, but that wasn’t the deciding factor. You look at the workload he’s put through his body in the last two Tests in particular and, with us opting for the extra spinner, the reason he’s not playing is more the make-up of the team.”
