George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
Pakistan choose to bowl, Jos Buttler captains England in place of Eoin Morgan
Written by I Dig Sports
Published in
Cricket
Sunday, 18 July 2021 06:33
Toss Pakistan chose to bowl vs England
Jos Buttler has been named as England's captain for the second T20I of the series against Pakistan in Leeds.
Buttler, who has not played since sustaining a calf injury in the victory over Sri Lanka at Cardiff on June 23, is one of three changes to an England side that lost the first T20I in Nottingham on Friday.
Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan also return to the England side, with Lewis Gregory and David Willey missing out. But it is the absence of Eoin Morgan, England's regular limited-overs captain, which is most noteworthy.
Morgan had indicated ahead of the first match that England would use the series to take a look at different combinations of players but, having only batted twice in July and reached 20 just once in England's white-ball season, his absence might raise some eyebrows.
"It looks like another fantastic wicket," Buttler, who last captained England in a T20I in February 2018, told Sky Sports. "There are some smallish boundaries, too, so I expect a high-scoring game."
Pakistan have named an unchanged side. Their captain, Babar Azam, won the toss and chose to bowl first. "We're looking forward to carrying on that momentum and wining the series," Babar said.
Pakistan's total on Friday of 232 for 6 was not only their highest in the format but also the highest conceded by England since 2013. If Pakistan win here, they will inflict England first home series T20I defeat since 2018.
England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk and capt), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Liam Livingstone 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Tom Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Matt Parkinson, 11 Saqib Mahmood
Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Sohaib Maqsood, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Azam Khan, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi