Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to field in the third Test against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
The grey skies above the ground promised to offer swing movement to Pakistan’s fast bowlers and make life difficult for England’s batsmen.
As announced by England captain Alastair Cook on Tuesday, the hosts made one change from the side that won the second Test at Old Trafford by 330 runs to level the four-match series at 1-1, with fast bowler Steven Finn replacing injured all-rounder Ben Stokes, out with a calf problem.
Pakistan made two changes, with Sami Aslam replacing out-of-form opener Shan Masood and right-armer Sohail Khan coming in for Wahab Riaz to add variety to what had been an all left-arm pace attack.
This was England’s 500th home Test match.
They have won seven of their last 11 at Edgbaston, with their most recent Test defeat at the Birmingham ground coming against South Africa in 2008.
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wkt), Sohail Khan, Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali
Umpires: Joel Wilson (WIS), Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS) ………… (AFP)
