England handed a Test debut to Will Jacks after Ben Foakes was too unwell to take part in the first Test that went ahead as scheduled in Rawalpindi.
A late call was made to play the game as planned after enough England players reported well enough for Ben Stokes to name a strong eleven although they were forced into a key change with Foakes admitting that he just wasn't feeling well enough to play.
Foakes' illness meant that Ollie Pope would need to take the gloves as a stand-in wicket keeper, a job he has done once before in a Test in New Zealand, while he also regularly keeps wicket for Surrey in the T20 Blast. Pope will continue to bat at three in the order with Jacks joining fellow debutant and spinning all rounder Liam Livingstone in the lower order.
England's squad has been hit by a virus that had laid low seven players with various levels of sickness and diarrhoea including skipper Ben Stokes. And after 17 years of waiting for Test cricket between these nations to return to Pakistan it was good news that the game could go ahead as planned.
Stokes won the toss and elected to bat, the first time he has done so after becoming captain earlier this year and his reasoning was more to do with the health of his team rather than the match conditions.
"It is pretty obvious why!" Said Stokes. "A bit of illness rocking around the camp, but the lads are dead keen. The wicket looks like it will play nicely."
Liam Livingstone was also handed his first Test cap in the England team huddle along with a fresh piece of headwear for Joe Root, playing in his 125th Test. It would be the fifth such cap that Root has received with a new one provided after every 25 matches.
With Pakistan naming four debutants in their team, Saud Shakeel, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Ali and Zahid Mehmood, there was certainly a fresh feel to the first Test match between these two countries on Pakistan soil for 17 years.
After a meeting between the boards and the ICC late on Wednesday night a decision was made to give the players as much time as possible to see how fit or otherwise they were to play. The virus appeared to be moving quickly through the player's systems with Joe Root recovering within 24 hours of feeling unwell.
As promised, at 7.30am the two boards released a joint statement stating: "The ECB has informed the PCB that they are in a position to field an XI, and, as such, the first Test will commence as per schedule today (Thursday, 1 December) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium."
