14 members of England's touring squad have fallen ill a day ahead of the 1st Test of a 3-match series in Pakistan. Captain Ben Stokes is among the several England players who are ill and been advised rest on the eve of the Rawalpindi Test, which will be England's first in the Asian country in 17 years. Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope and Joe Root are the only players at the ground ahead of the first Test, in Rawalpindi, set to begin on Thursday.

It is believed that the members of the touring squad are down with a viral fever - with players also experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea, and were asked to stay inside their hotel rooms in Islamabad after complaining of feeling unwell, in order to avoid the spread of virus. Joe Root had also complained of weakness yesterday, but recovered and was at the venue on Wednesday morning.England already named its playing XI for the opening game of the three-match series with all-rounder Liam Livingstone set to make his Test debut while Ben Duckett was named as opener with Zak Crawley.England last toured Pakistan in 2005 and is scheduled to play three Test matches at Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi.