Pakistan pick Cheema over Riaz; England bat

 

Pakistan v England, 1st Test, Dubai, 1st day

 

 

Pakistan vs England Series 2012 Schedule

Date and Time	Match Details and Series
Tue Jan 17 – Sat Jan 21	1st Test – Pakistan vs England Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Wed Jan 25 – Sun Jan 29	2nd Test – Pakistan vs England Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Fri Feb 3 – Tue Feb 7	3rd Test – Pakistan vs England Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Mon Feb 13	1st ODI – Pakistan vs England Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Wed Feb 15	2nd ODI – Pakistan vs England Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Sat Feb 18	3rd ODI – Pakistan vs England Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Tue Feb 21	4th ODI – Pakistan vs England Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Thu Feb 23	1st T20 – Pakistan vs England Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Sat Feb 25	2nd T20 – Pakistan vs England Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Mon Feb 27	3rd T20 – Pakistan vs England Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

 Andrew Strauss began England's attempt to reinforce their No. 1 Test ranking by winning the toss and choosing to bat in front of sparsely populated stands in Dubai.

Strauss said he didn't think the pitch would especially help the spinners and so England chose the fast bowler Chris Tremlett as their fourth bowler over left-arm spinner Monty Panesar. Both Ian Bell and Stuart Broad were cleared to play after having minor injury scares.

While England played three fast bowlers and one spinner, Pakistan picked two quicks and two specialist spinners. They also had the option of Mohammad Hafeez's offbreaks. Aizaz Cheema was preferred as Umar Gul's new ball partner over Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz.

 

England: 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Chris Tremlett

 

Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnam Akmal (wk), 8 Abdur Rehman, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema