Pakistan announced its squad for the remaining two tests of the three-match series against England. The biggest surprise was the omission of star player and ex-skipper Babar Azam and premier pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. Sarfaraz Ahmed is also dropped from the squad.
Abrar Ahmed, diagnosed with dengue will also miss the remaining two games of the series. The uncapped trio of Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz and Kamran Ghulam alongside pacer Muhammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan have been called up to the squad. Noman Ali and Zahid Mehmood who were released from the squad for the first test are also included in the 16-members squad.
Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi need to Regain Form and Fitness
The reason for the omission of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and the other two players was cited to be that they were given a rest to regain their form, fitness, confidence and composure and the selectors went with this decision considering Pakistan’s future assessments in 2024-2025 international cricket season.
Member of the Men’s National Selection Committee, Aqib Javed said, “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. With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve decided to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi.”
“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”, he further added.
Babar Azam has been going through a bad phase in tests. He has scored only 352 runs in 17 test innings since 2023 at an average of only 20.70 and has not scored a fifty in tests since 2023. Shaheen Afridi too hasn’t been at his best for some time now in the longest format. His record since 2023 in tests is 17 wickets in 11 innings at an average of 45.70. Naseem Shah has been average with the ball lately and Pakistan will hope that all three players have a strong comeback in the test side.
Pakistan’s squad for 2nd and 3rd Test against 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.
Pakistan management and selectors will hope that the new faces in the squad will help them bounce back strongly in the 2nd test after they lost the first test by an innings.
