England have opted not to replace him for Edgbaston, sticking with the 13 other players named for the Old Trafford Test, with Jake Ball, Steven Finn and Adil Rashid the candidates to come into the XI.
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England on Monday set a tall target of 565 runs for Pakistan, after Alastair Cook declared the second innings at 173 for 1 on day four of the second Test at Old Trafford.
Unfortunately for Stokes – who missed much of the Sri Lanka series after knee surgery – the scan revealed he had torn his muscle.
However, the fact that England will let their medical staff have an extended look at Stokes next Monday with a view to them providing more accurate rehabilitation timings suggests they are hopeful that he can recover quickly.
Alastair Cook’s hosts bowled Pakistan out for 234 to seal a 330-run win, even with only 5.2 overs from Stokes before he limped out of their attack.
“No doubt England played exceptionally.We need to persevere, work hard & learn from some mistakes to bounce back”.
England are due to name their squad by the end of this week for the third Test at Edgbaston, which begins next Wednesday. Pakistan were a bowler short after Riaz couldn’t come onto the field after sustaining an injury while batting.
It contains, as expected, Watford-born Finn and Jake Ball as pace-bowling cover for Stokes – with Adil Rashid as a second spin option, along with the remainder of the winning team in Manchester.
They were chasing 565 to win, an improbable score, after England had declared before lunch on 173 for one, both Cook and Joe Root in the 70s and batting easily. “We will know a lot more tomorrow morning but the good thing is he is walking around now”, said Cook. “He is a big miss”, said Cook.
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah took 10 for 141 at Lord’s but only managed figures of one for 266 at Old Trafford. England play five ODIs and a T20 global against Pakistan between August 24 and September 7.
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Doing without Stokes is something England have got used to in a season where he has started only two out of five Tests and has not finished one.
