Pakistan has won the toss and decided to bat first against England in the second cricket Test being played in Southampton on Thursday.

England is leading the series 1-0 after winning the first Test by three wickets.

After winning the toss, Pakistan Captain Azhar Ali said they wanted to exploit the weather conditions at the moment. “The weather is quite hot and we would like to make full use of it and put runs on the board.”

He further said “There will be some freshness in the pitch for the first couple of hours but we will look to negate that." 

Azhar Ali said only one change has been made to the Pakistani side. Batsman Fawad Alam will replace leg-spinner Shadab Khan.

England captain Joe Root on his part said they have also made two changes in the side.

England have made two switches, with Zak Crawley in for Ben Stokes and Sam Curran replacing Jofra Archer. 

"We wanted to lengthen our batting, Sam's performed brilliantly down the order for us in the past," said Root. As for Anderson's retention, he added: "It's quite muggy, feels like it could swing, very much looking to see him get into his work this morning."

Teams: 

Pakistan: 1 Shan Masood, 2 Abid Ali, 3 Azhar Ali (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Mohammad Abbas, 11 Naseem Shah.

England: 1 Rory Burns, 2 Dom Sibley, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Ollie Pope, 6 Jos Butler (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Dom Bess, 9 Sam Curran, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.