Former captain Nasser Hussain has said that he wouldn’t recommend opening the innings with all-rounder Ben Stokes in case Ben Duckett is ruled out of the rest of the Test series against Pakistan due to injury. Hussain also backed Ollie Pope to open with Zak Crawley despite the stand-in captain being dismissed for a duck on Day 2 of the first Test in Multan on Tuesday, October 8 as well.

During a discussion on Sky Sports, Hussain said: “I wouldn’t open with Stokes personally. You could do. He’s technically as sound as anyone. I think in these conditions, opening is not like it is in England. I think it’s more of a specialist position in England against the Dukes ball. It didn’t sit comfortably with Dan Lawrence. He was a little bit all over the place.”

“If it’s England, I would probably call up a specialist opener. If anything, I’ll do what they did tonight – move Ollie Pope up and either bring Jordan Cox in the middle-order or bring Stokes into the middle-order when he is fit. On these pitches, without any sideways movement, it is not as much a specialist position,” he added. “Pope got out for a duck, but pulling a ball and a freak catch at midwicket. He may not be captain next game, so it may just free up his mind to go and open the batting.”

Also, Ben Duckett, however, is fourth in the list of highest run-getters in the 2023-2025 World Test Championship. In 30 innings, he has smashed 1,028 runs which came at an average of 35.44, with one hundred and five fifties as well.