“I’m feeling good. I’m looking forward to getting back on the field,” Stokes said ahead of his return. “I worked really hard at the end of my rehabilitation period at home and also during the last test match. I pretty much put myself through a fitness test in the last few days and got through it.” pretty good.”

England are bracing for a lower-scoring second Test, with the match set to be played on the same strip as the one used for their innings victory last week. The pitch is heavily watered but has dried out in the sun over two days of practice, and the surface used could bring both teams’ spinners into play.

Stokes has bowled in training and will be England’s third player behind Potts and Brydon Carse, his Durham teammates. It is a rare example of England choosing three sailors from the same province. “It will be a proud moment for the club,” he said. “Durham has a great record of producing English cricketers, and fast bowlers in particular.”

On his own suitability to bowl, Stokes said: “Obviously I have to be sensible. Playing on a used wicket made the decision a little easier… We have two workhorses in the team in Carsey and Potts who just keep going and going and going and go, but I am available to bowl, and when I feel the time is right to go ahead and make an impact, there will be no more doubts.

England’s seamers all had a heavy workload in the first Test, despite their innings victory: Atkinson bowled 39 overs, Carse 38 and Woakes 35. Atkinson and Woakes both played all six Tests of England’s home summer and are rested, with a short turnaround between games, while Carse should be much fresher after serving suspensions in June, July and August.

“You can see the last seven Test matches have been quite tough, especially the last one,” Stokes said. “Looking at the seamers we have here, this is a good time for them to rest and refresh the body. They’ve had a really big summer and put in really good performances, bowled a lot of overs. It’s a good moment for them to get up and take a break.”

Ben Duckett retains his place at the top of the rankings after recovering from a dislocated thumb suffered on the second night of the first Test, while Jamie Smith moves back to No. 7 to allow Stokes to return to his favored role at number 1. 6.

England have stuck with the same spinners – Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir – despite Bashir’s quiet first Test, in which he returned match figures of 1 for 156. Rehan Ahmed is the other spin option in their squad, while Warwickshire and England Under-19s legspinner Tazeem Ali is on holiday in Pakistan and has been bowling in the nets this week.

England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (captain), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir