England men's Test team captain Ben Stokes is in doubt for the first Test match against Pakistan, commences from Monday (October 7).

Ben Stokes
Both Ben Stokes and opener Zak Crawley missed out the entire three-match home Test series against Sri Lanka due to injuries. Although, Zak Crawley has declared himself fit for the match but Stokes is yet to get his clarence.

"I'd rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of potentially doing something worse, and then putting myself out of the game for longer." - Stokes told to ESPNCricinfo last month.

If Stokes is ruled out from the first match, then rising battet Ollie Pope once again will become the stand-in captain. He previously gained experience captaining England during the Sri Lanka series, where the three lions won the series by 2-1.

Crawley is set to open the England's innings after missing out the Sri Lanka series. He missed out the series due to a finger injury.
 "We've got a really deep squad, with plenty of options with the ball and with the bat as well," he said. "We feel ready. Whatever team comes out, it will be a nice balance either way."

"The finger is all right," Crawley said. "It's as good as it could be at this stage. I've recovered well from it. It was a nasty break at the time, but I've recovered well and I don't feel it at all while I'm batting. In the field, I haven't done too much. I'm trying to rest it, but I did a few catches there [in training] and it feels fine.

The first Test match begins from October 7. The last time England toured Pakistan was a complete whitewash to the hosts as England steamrolled over Pakistan by 3-nil.