England are preparing for the return of captain Ben Stokes for the second Test as Pakistan look to reuse the same pitch in a desperate attempt to boost their chances of levelling the series.

Stokes bowled a full spell in the nets on Sunday and England expect him to return to lead the side in Tuesday’s second Test after missing the last four matches with a hamstring injury. Pakistan, meanwhile, have reacted to losing the first Test by dropping three of their most experienced players with former captain Babar Azam and fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah left out of the squad for the second Test.

“He looks great. He’s worked really hard to get back fit,” said James Anderson, England’s coaching consultant. “Obviously it was disappointing to pick up that injury in the summer, so he’s worked incredibly hard, looks as fit as I’ve ever seen him and the ball’s coming out great, so hopefully he’s good to go this week.

“He brings so much to the team. He is the captain, has showed over the last couple of years he is an amazing tactician on the field, he is so proactive with his thinking around that. He strengthens our batting incredibly and gives us that option with the ball.

“He can bowl if he is fully fit. He is bowling quick in the nets, he can get up to 90mph, he can reverse swing the ball better than a lot of people around world cricket so there are so many different things he can bring to the team so I’m sure it gives everyone a lot of confidence.”

England will make a final decision on Stokes on Monday after assessing how he responded to bowling in that optional net session on Sunday. Only five players trained, with the batsmen taking a day off. If Stokes can play a full part as an all-rounder it solves the headache of accommodating him as a specialist batsman and upsetting the balance of the team. Stokes has carefully built up his fitness on the sidelines in Pakistan and if he plays, he is likely to replace Chris Woakes to form a three-man seam attack alongside Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse.

A used pitch is likely to bring spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir into the match more than last week, meaning Stokes is unlikely to have to shoulder a full burden with the ball in his first Test since the West Indies series in July.

It is unprecedented in modern times for England to play on the same pitch for two Tests running. There are no ICC regulations against reusing the same surface for consecutive Tests but it does run the risk of making the match a lottery, determined by the toss.