The Test series between England and Pakistan gets underway on Monday, October 7 at the Multan International Cricket Stadium. Both teams will look to keep their hopes of reaching the World Test Championship final next year. England skipper, Ben Stokes is not playing and Ollie Pope is leading the team in his absence. The players for England were announced on Saturday, October 5th, while that of Pakistan was announced on the eve of the match. The big news is Stokes is not playing in this 1st test. He missed all three Tests against Sri Lanka before due to a hamstring injury which he got while playing in The Hundred. Though he traveled with the team to Pakistan and has been training, but he isn't fit to play in the first match against Pakistan. Also Read | IND vs BAN 1st T20I: Hardik Pandya Overtakes Virat Kohli to Accomplish Unique Feat Ben Stokes: "Looking at the bigger picture" Stokes cited the reason for his skipping the Multan Test for something bigger. He also said that he isn't ready to play just yet, though he had been working out hard for the same. He told SKY Sports. “I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this first game, but I’ve taken the call to miss this one. I’ve not quite managed to get game-ready. There is a lot that has to go into my rehab program. We got to a certain point, but looking at the bigger picture and physically where I’m at, I’m not quite ready to play,” It is a huge loss for England. The last time they toured Pakistan in 2022, under his captaincy, England won all three matches. It was the first time Pakistan lost all three matches in a Test series at home. PAK vs ENG 1st Test 2024: Playing XI England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed