England suffer major blow! Ben Stokes' key weapon ruled out of Pakistan tour

England National Cricket Team have suffered a major blow ahead of the upcoming Test series against Pakistan National Cricket Team. The Ben Stokes-led side will be traveling to the Asian country for the three-match Test series, which will also be part of the ICC World Test Championship.

The Test series between Pakistan and the Ben Stokes-led side will begin on 7th October. Also, the first game of the series will be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan followed by the second game to be played at the same venue from 15th October. The series will conclude in Rawalpindi, which will host the last game from 24th October.

With the Pakistan tour around the corner, England faced a big blow as young pacer Josh Hull has been ruled out of the three-match Test series against Pakistan National Cricket Team. The fast bowler will be missing the series due to the quad injury, which he faced after the Test series against Sri Lanka.

England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed the development on their social media account and stated: "Get well soon, Josh, Josh Hull has been ruled out of our Test tour of Pakistan due to a quad injury."

Get well soon, Josh 🙏

Josh Hull has been ruled out of our Test tour of Pakistan due to a quad injury.

🇵🇰 #PAKvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/6q1oXR21Wh

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 26, 2024

Josh Hull made his debut for the team in the recently concluded Test series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. He was included in the team after Mark Wood was ruled out of the series and then earned his Test cap for the team in the last game of the series against Island Nation.

Josh Hull had a decent outing with the ball on his debut but he unfortunately couldn't help his team win the game. The lanky pacer picked 3 wickets in the first innings but failed to make an impact in the second innings as England suffered a disappointing 8-wicket loss against Sri Lanka.

Josh Hull's absence will be a massive void in the touring team for the Test series against Pakistan. With him being tall, he could've proved to be handy on the flat decks in Multan and Rawalpindi. Also, with Mark Wood not being there, he could've been the captain's go-to player in the series.

ECB is yet to name the replacement for Josh Hull. They are likely to name the replacement soon. It is likely that the board with a name like-for-like replacement for the young tall bowler.

England would be heading into the tour on the back of some solid performances

The Three Lions would be heading into the tour on the back of some solid performances against the West Indies National Cricket Team and the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team at home. They defeated the Caribbean team by 3-0 and then followed it up with a 3-1 win over Island Nation.

The last time the Ben Stokes-led side toured Pakistan, they whitewashed the opposition and won the series by the margin of 3-0. They would be hoping to achieve the same result this time around as well. Also with Pakistan being in terrible form, they would be favourites to win the series.