‘I don’t know what’s going on…’ – Star England batter on his Test debut against Pakistan

Pakistan host England for a three-match Test series after a long gap of 17 years. The series opener commenced at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on December 1, Thursday. And England batter Liam Livingstone was among the debutants on the day for England against Babar Azam’s side. 

England skipper Ben Stokes announced Livingstone’s debut on Tuesday. And England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Thursday that the first Test between England and Pakistan will not be delayed, as it was initially proposed by the board, and will start as scheduled despite the outbreak of viral infection in the Three Lions camp. 

“I’ve just been chilling upstairs, had breakfast with Sax (Mark Saxby) who’s just come back from being ill, so I haven’t seen anyone. I don’t know what’s going on. Thankfully it’s way above me (the decision on whether the Test will begin as planned). I’ll stay way out of it. I’ll prepare as if I’m going to make my debut tomorrow and that’s that, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but I won’t be wasting any energy thinking about what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Livingstone was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo. 

England openers provide a solid start on Day 1

“I’ve spent most of the morning on the golf simulator. Everybody was going down one by one. Thankfully I’ve been clear up to now,” added the England power-hitter. Rawalpindi hosts the series opener (1-5 December) and Multan will host the second one (9-13  December) and the third match will be played in Karachi (17-21 December)

England won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. For England, Will Jack and Liam Livingstone made their debuts, and on the other hand for Pakistan, leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood made his debut. 

In the first session, England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett came onto the field with an attacking approach Both of them scored 174 runs in 27 overs at a run rate of 6.44. Day 1 ended with a humongous total of 506 for 4 in 75 overs for the visitors.