ENG vs PAK: After 3,910 days since his last Test, Pakistan's Fawad Alam makes long-awaited return

After being on the sidelines for more than a decade, Pakistan's Fawad Alam makes his return to Test cricket for the second match against England. 

Fawad, who comes into the playing XI in place of Shadab Khan was sidelined for an astonishing 88 Test matches, cricket.com.au reported.

The batsman had scored a century in his debut Test against Sri Lanka in July 2009 but was dropped just two matches later. Since then he hasn't been picked with his last Test being against New Zealand almost 11 years ago.

Fawad’s absence of 10 years and 258 days is the second-longest interval between Tests for a Pakistan player. It is the second-longest this century for players from all nations.

August 13, 2020

Fawad, who is making a return after 3,910 days, averages more than 56 at first-class level including 34 centuries. However, the left-hander had been a Test outcast for a decade before returning to the squad late last year, cricket.com.au reported.

As for England, they dropped Jofra Archer and are missing out of Ben Stokes - who has flown to New Zealand for family reasons. Allrounder Sam Curran comes into England's line-up in place of Archer.

England XI: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Pakistan XI: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah