Ben Stokes will return to captain England in Multan this week after two months sidelined with a torn hamstring. Stokes has stepped up his recovery in the past week and will replace Chris Woakes in one of two England changes from the first Test, with Matthew Potts also coming in for the rested Gus Atkinson.England are braced for a lower-scoring second Test, with the match set to be played on the same strip as the one used for their innings win last week. The pitch has been heavily watered but has dried out in the sun during two practice days, and the used surface could bring both teams’ spinners into the game.Stokes has been bowling in training and will be England’s third seam option behind Potts and Brydon Carse, his Durham team-mates. “It could be a big week for the spinners,” James Anderson, England’s fast-bowling consultant, said on Sunday. “I don’t know about his full share… but he’s still looking at contributing a pretty decent amount with the ball.”England’s seamers all had a heavy workload in the first Test, despite their innings win: Atkinson bowled 39 overs, Carse 38 and Woakes 35. Atkinson and Woakes both played all six Tests of England’s home summer and have been rested, with a short turnaround between matches, while Carse should be much fresher after spending June, July and August serving a ban.Ben Duckett retains his place at the top of the order after recovering from a dislocated thumb sustained on the second evening of the first Test, while Jamie Smith will shuffle back down to No. 7 to allow Stokes to return in his favoured role at No. 6.England have stuck with the same spinners – Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir – despite Bashir’s quiet first Test, in which he returned match figures of 1 for 156. Rehan Ahmed is the other spin option in their squad, while the Warwickshire and England Under-19s legspinner Tazeem Ali is on holiday in Pakistan and has been bowling in the nets this week.England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir



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