Babar Azam Dropped From Pakistan Squad for 2nd PAK vs ENG Test

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Pakistan’s former captain, Babar Azam, is set to be dropped from the squad for the second Test against England following his continuous struggles with the bat. Pakistan recently suffered a heavy defeat in the first Test at Multan, where Babar could only manage scores of 30 and 5 across two innings, despite the favourable conditions for batting.

Shortly after the loss, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) formed a new selection committee to reshape the squad. According to a report from ESPNcricinfo, selectors Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali met with PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the five mentors appointed by the board, finalising the squad for the upcoming Test. The majority decision was to leave Babar out, considering his recent form across formats.

Selectors Meet with Team Management in Multan

The selectors travelled to Multan on Saturday to discuss the squad’s strategy with coach Jason Gillespie and captain Shan Masood. They also consulted PCB curator Tony Hemming to address concerns about the extremely batting-friendly nature of the Multan pitch, which had drawn criticism after the first Test.

Reports suggest that some members of the PCB-appointed mentoring committee had advocated for Babar’s inclusion, but the majority felt that a change was needed, leading to his exclusion from the second Test. With the second Test around the corner, the decision to drop a player of Babar Azam’s calibre has surely sparked discussions. 

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