Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi axed as Pakistan announce squad ahead of remaining two Tests against England
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has unveiled the squad for the second and third Tests against England, announcing sweeping changes after the innings defeat in the first.
Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Abrar Ahmed have been left out. Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Ali, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, and Zahid Mehmood have been added to the squad.
Babar, once among the top five in ICC Test batting rankings, has witnessed his form dip significantly. The right-handed batter could manage only 35 runs in the opening Test in Multan despite a good batting track and has gone 18 innings without a half-century.
Naseem and Shaheen sent down 57 overs in Multan and went for a staggering 277 runs with only three wickets. Abrar, the leggie, was hospitalised midway through the opening game, while Sarfaraz last played one in December 2023.
Of the players newly added, Sajid, Ali, Noman, and Zahid have donned the whites for Pakistan. Sajid, the off-spinner, was part of the series against Australia earlier this year, but Noman (left-arm spinner) and Zahid (leg-spinner) haven't played since 2023 and 2022, respectively. Ali, the fast bowler, played in the preceding series against Bangladesh.
Haseebullah Khan, the keeper-batter, has played 21 first-class matches, scoring 923 runs at 38.45. He has also featured in a solitary T20I.
Mumtaz, yet another left-arm spinner, has decent first-class numbers, picking up 54 scalps in 19 first-class matches at 33.62. Ghulam is likely to earn a Test debut as he has averaged 53.04 with the bat in 59 first-class games with 4377 runs and could replace Babar at No. 4.
Squad for 2nd and 3rd Test: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wicket-kepeer), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood.
"They remain some of our finest talents" - Aaqib Javed on dropping Pakistan's stalwarts
Former Pakistan pacer and member of the selection committee Aaqib Javed has reasoned that the break from international cricket will help the likes of Babar and Shaheen regain their form and backed them to come back stronger into the fold. He stated, as quoted by pcb.co.pk:
"Selecting the squad for the upcoming Tests against England has been a challenging task for the selectors. We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule. We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these players regain their fitness, confidence and composure, ensuring they return in top shape for future challenges.
"They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket. We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger."
The hosts are out to avoid a second consecutive series loss to England at home.