Pakistan leave out Babar, Shaheen and Naseem for the remaining two Tests against England

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan dropped several players, including Babar Azam, on Sunday as it made changes for the remaining two Test matches against England after suffering a historic 47-run defeat in the first Test in Multan.

Babar, who has not scored a half-century in his last 18 Test innings, was also released from the 16-member squad along with fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and stand-in wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed.

“We had to carefully consider the player’s current form and the urgency to recover in the series,” said Aqib Javed, one of the selection committee members. “In the best interest of Pakistan cricket and the players, we have taken the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi.”

Javed said the “break in international cricket” will help rested players regain their fitness, confidence and composure.

“They remain some of our best talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket,” Javed said. “We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger.”

Uncapped Haseebullah replaced Sarfaraz as Pakistan also brought in spinners Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mahmood to counter England’s top-order batsmen in the remaining two Test matches with slow bowlers. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was ruled out of the series after being hospitalized during the first Test with fever.

Pakistan are scheduled to play the second Test at the same ground where they became the first team to lose a Test match after making more than 500 runs in the first innings. Harry Brook’s brilliant triple century and Joe Root’s patient 262 helped England amass 823-7 declared as Pakistan capitulated for 220 in the second innings inside the first session of the fifth and final day to lose 1- 0 in the series.

Another uncapped player, Kamran Ghulam, who has been scoring consistently in domestic cricket, is likely to replace Babar at No.4 and make his debut in the second Test, starting on Tuesday.

Pakistan have failed to take 20 wickets in five of their last six Test matches with captain Shan Masood losing all six matches. Both Afridi and Naseem were among six Pakistan bowlers to concede more than 100 runs in England’s record first innings score in Multan which was achieved at a rate of more than five runs an over.

Ever since he scored 161 against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022, Babar has struggled with red-ball cricket, both at home and abroad. His highest score of 41 came against Australia in Melbourne last year. Babar also struggled in the previous series at home against Bangladesh, scoring just 64 in four innings before making 30 and 5 in the first Test against England.

It had been a turbulent year for Babar since he was recalled as the white-ball captain at the start of 2024. Pakistan could only win against Ireland in a bilateral T20 series before an early exit from the T20 World Cup after losing matches group against the United States. and arch-rival India.

Babar stepped down from the white-ball captaincy earlier this month, saying he wanted to focus on his batting. However, Pakistan’s opening batsman struggled against England on a flat wicket in Multan, where three of his teammates, captain Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique and Salman Ali Agha, scored centuries in the first innings.

The Pakistan Cricket Board reconstituted its selection committee hours after Pakistan lost the first Test, including Javed, former ICC umpire Aleem Dar, former captain Azhar Ali and analyst Hasan Cheema.

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Team: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan and, Salman Ali Aghan Zahid Mehmood.

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