Several England players, including skipper Ben Stokes, have been affected by a virus on the eve of their opening Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, senior batsman Joe Root said on Wednesday.

"As far as I'm aware, a few guys are not feeling 100 per cent,” Root told a news conference.

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"I didn't feel great yesterday and I woke up a lot better today. So hopefully it's a 24-hour virus.

"Don't think it's like food poisoning or COVID or anything like that. I think it's one of those things which we unfortunately picked up as a group.

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"We are trying to do absolutely everything right to make sure we are prepared for this game."

England have already named their starting 11, giving a Test debut to Liam Livingstone and recalling Ben Duckett to open with Zak Crawley.

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They are scheduled to play in Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi in their first Test tour of Pakistan since 2005.

They have hired a chef for the tour after receiving feedback from players who visited Pakistan in September-October for a seven-match T20I series.

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