Out-of-form batsman Babar Azam was dropped on Sunday as Pakistan shook up their squad for the second Test against England, following their innings and 47-run defeat in the first.
“We’ve made the decision to rest Babar Azam and a few other players,” said selector Aaqib Javed in a Pakistan Cricket Board release, after a 16-player squad with three uncapped players was named for the match which begins in Multan on Tuesday.
Azam has not scored a fifty in his last 18 Test innings and managed just 30 and five in the first Test which England won by an innings and 47 runs on Friday after piling up 823-7 declared.
Also dropped are pace duo Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, while spinner Abrar Ahmed has been left out after being taken ill. Abrar was hospitalised after a high fever which forced him to miss the fourth and fifth day of the first Test. Javed hoped Azam would come back refreshed after a break.
The uncapped Kamran Ghulam, 29, should get the nod to replace Azam at number four in the batting line-up.
The axe fell on Azam, Shaheen and Naseem two days after the PCB reconstituted their selection panel bringing in former pace bowler Javed and Azhar Ali along with the incumbent Asad Shafiq.
In a rare move the PCB also included former elite panel umpire Aleem Dar. After Pakistan’s defeat, skipper Shan Masood and head coach Jason Gillespie backed Azam, saying he just needed time to regain his form.
+ There are no comments
Add yours