2026 ENG vs PAK 1st Test Playing 11: Joe Root-led England will square off against Salman Agha-led Pakistan in the 1st Test starting on August 19 at Headingley, Carnegie.

The three-match test series will be part of the WTC 2025-27 cycle. England have a change in captaincy as Ben Stokes announced his retirement and Joe Root is taking over as test captain.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been ruled out for the first test due to a hand injury, with Salman Agha named as captain.

England and Pakistan have met on 92 tests where the Three Lions have 30 wins while the latter have 23 wins. A total of 39 games ended in a draw.

England won the toss and opted to bowl. Speaking at the toss England captain Joe Root said, “We’re going to bowl first. Feel there’s going to be some good overheads to work with throughout the day, and there’s a little bit of top moisture there. So hopefully our lads can exploit that early.”

Let’s go! 🦁

We win the toss and bowl first at Headingley.

Click below for the match centre:

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 19, 2026

Speaking on today England cricket team playing 11, Root added, “It’s the top, you’ve put me on the spot here, top seven as you probably has been made pretty clear, and then the four seamers being Jofra, Gus, Josh Tongue, and Ollie Robinson.”

Meanwhile, Salman Agha said, “Yeah, it was a last minute yesterday I found out I’m captaining, Babar was not available, which is very unfortunate. But yeah, we have been playing a lot of red ball cricket. We had a camp before West Indies series a month at home. So, I think we are well prepared here.”

Speaking on today Pakistan Cricket Team playing 11, “I think it’s a goal to achieve a good heavily scoring run for my team, and especially my team’s won here. So I’m really happy. And last year I came here for the Pakistan A team. So I know some conditions. So, I’m fully prepared for it.”

2026 ENG vs PAK 1st Test Playing 11

England Playing 11: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root(c), Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith(w), Ollie Robinson, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue

Pakistan Playing 11: Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Salman Agha(c), Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Abbas