England announce playing XI for 2nd Test against Pakistan; Mark Wood replaces injured Liam Livingstone 

England have named their playing XI for the second Test against Pakistan in Multan. The Ben Stokes-led side head into the contest with a solitary change in the form of Mark Wood replacing Liam Livingstone.

The right-arm pacer was rendered unavailable for the first Test after suffering an injury in England's final Super 12 match at the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. In his absence, the visitors went with a three-pronged pace attack in James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, and Ben Stokes.

Livingstone, who made his Test debut in the 74-run win in Rawalpindi, has been ruled out for the remainder of the series due to injury.

After earning a recall into the red-ball setup after a three-year gap, the all-rounder was thrust into action straightaway, but Livingstone's maiden appearance was unfortunately marred after a blow to his knee while fielding on Day 1 itself.

He featured with the bat across both innings but failed to make an impact while battling the injury that prevented him from bowling as well.

Surprisingly, England's first-choice wicket-keeper Ben Foakes misses out on a spot in the playing XI for the second match running. He could not play in the series opener due to illness that ravaged the majority of the England squad on the eve of the contest.

Ollie Pope, who took over the wicketkeeping responsibilities in the absence of Foakes, will retain the gloves for the second Test as well. Meanwhile, Will Jacks, who impressed with his all-round abilities, most notably the six-wicket haul in the first innings, also retained his place in the playing XI.

Wood's presence in the pace unit arguably strengthens England's bowling attack. With Pakistan not being a spinner's paradise, especially in the fourth innings, like the rest of the subcontinent, the ploy to add a seamer who can touch the 150 kmph mark will be a threat to the batters.

England skipper Stokes said during the pre-match press conference:

"You associate the sub-continent with spin coming into the game a lot more but, as the first Test got further and further in, as that day five got deeper and deeper, it was pretty obvious that seam was going to be the threat with reverse-swing."

The seamers were prolific with the old ball in the fourth innings of the first Test. Stokes, Anderson, and Robinson had to rotate in a rational manner to exploit the most out of the reverse swing on offer.

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England playing XI for second Test against Pakistan

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

The visitors arguably notched their greatest away Test win on the back of a bold declaration on Day 4. They were on the backfoot midway through the final day, but an inspired bowling performance helped them attain a victory for the ages in the dying stages of the contest.

Pakistan are riddled with injury concerns as well. The hosts have lost the services of pacer Haris Rauf for the series. Mohammad Wasim Jnr presents as the sole pacer in the squad as a potential replacement in the playing XI.

Reports suggest that management is considering bringing in either Mohammad Abbas or Hasan Ali as a replacement.

Azhar Ali also struggled with a wrist injury but came out to bat on the final day in an attempt to save the Test.

Who will win the second Test between Pakistan and England? Let us know what you think.

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