Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi among notable absentees as Pakistan name squad for remaining Tests against England

Pakistan on Sunday announced the squads for the second and third Tests against England, with some of the notable absentees being Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Hazeebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Ali have been named in the squad as replacements. PCB, in a statement, said that the four players were “rested”.

“Taking into consideration the current form and fitness of key playedrrs and looking ahead to Pakistan’s future assignments in the 2024-25 international cricket season, the selectors have decided to give rest to Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Abrar Ahmed (who is recovering from dengue fever) was unavailable for selection,” the board said.

“Noman Ali and Zahid Mehmood, who were initially part of the original first Test squad but were subsequently released, have also been included in the 16-player squad,” the statement added.

Also featuring in the squad is all-rounder Sajid Khan, who replaces Abrar Ahmed with the latter recovering from dengue.

England lead the three-match Test series 1-0 after an innings victory in the first Test in Multan. The second Test will also be played in Multan from 15 October, whereas the third Test will take place in Rawalpindi from 24 October.

No fifty in 18 innings for Babar Azam

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. Selector Aaqib Javed hoped Azam would come back refreshed after a break.

“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these players, especially Azam, regain their confidence,” said Javed.

“They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket.” The uncapped Kamran Ghulam, 29, should get the nod to replace Azam at number four in the batting line-up.

A rare Test miss for Babar Azam

Since making his Test debut against the West Indies in Dubai in 2016, Azam has missed only five Tests, two in his first series, one against England at Leeds in 2018 and two in New Zealand in 2020.

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.

Azam was once the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) top-ranked batsman in all three formats, and is still number one in the one-day international rankings.

Since the start of 2023 his form has nose dived. He averages under 21 in his last nine Tests, scoring just 126 in six innings in Australia and 64 in the two home Tests against Bangladesh last month.

Pakistan squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests vs England: 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.

With inputs from AFP