NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and tempo spearhead Shaheen Afridi have been on Sunday dropped from the Pakistan squad for the second and third Checks in opposition to England.
After the embarrassing innings defeat in Multan within the first Take a look at, the Pakistan Cricket Board introduced the squad for the ultimate two matches on Sunday afternoon and Babar and Shaheen weren’t included within the 16-man squad.
Curiously, under-fire Shan Masood has retained his spot because the captain.
“We have made the choice to relaxation Babar Azam and some different gamers,” mentioned selector Aaqib Javed in a Pakistan Cricket Board launch.
Babar had not scored a fifty in his final 18 Take a look at innings and managed simply 30 and 5 within the first Take a look at defeat in opposition to England.
Pacer Naseem Shah and keeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed have additionally been rested for the rest of the England Take a look at collection.
“We’re assured that this break from worldwide cricket will assist these gamers regain their health, confidence and composure, guaranteeing they return in prime form for future challenges.
“They continue to be a few of our best abilities with way more to contribute to Pakistan cricket. We’re absolutely dedicated to supporting them throughout this era to allow them to come again even stronger,” Javed added.
The 4 key gamers within the squad have been changed by Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam (all uncapped), quick bowler Mohammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan, the board mentioned in a launch.
The second and third Checks are scheduled to be held in Multan and Rawalpindi respectively.
Since making 161 in opposition to New Zealand in Karachi again in December 2022, Babar had confronted difficulties in red-ball cricket, each domestically and internationally.
His finest rating since then was 41 in opposition to Australia in Melbourne final yr.
Babar additionally had a tricky time within the earlier residence collection in opposition to Bangladesh, managing solely 64 runs throughout 4 innings.
It has been a difficult yr for Babar, who was reinstated as white-ball captain earlier in 2024. Pakistan managed to safe a collection win solely in opposition to Eire in a T20 bilateral collection. Nevertheless, they made an early exit from the T20 World Cup after dropping within the group stage to the US and their arch-rival India.
Babar determined to step down from white-ball captaincy earlier this month, aiming to focus extra on his batting.
However, he continued to battle in opposition to England on a flat Multan pitch. Notably, three of his teammates – captain Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, and Salman Ali Agha – scored centuries within the first innings.
Following Pakistan’s loss within the first Take a look at, the Pakistan Cricket Board reconstituted its choice committee. The brand new committee contains Javed, former ICC umpire Aleem Dar, former captain Azhar Ali, and analyst Hasan Cheema.
Pakistan squad (for 2nd and third Checks):
Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), 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.
