The ‘surgery’ that Mohsin Naqvi had claimed would happen after Pakistan lost to the USA in June has finally happened. Pakistan have dropped Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from their Test team. Having suffered a humiliating defeat in Multan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) thought enough was enough and decided to do away with their best three players in the last 5 years ahead of the second England Test.
Babar Azam’s woeful form
There were reports of Babar Azam getting dropped. Since January 2023, the former skipper hasn’t even scored a half-century and averages just 20.7. His poor show against Bangladesh and England seemed to have been the last straw. PCB’s newly appointed 7-man national selection committee thought it was the right call to drop him. According to Geo News journalist Arfa Feroz Zake, just one of the seven members of the committee was in favour of having Babar in the squad, and therefore he was replaced by Kamran Ghulam.
Babar Azam’s Test record since January 2023
| Innings | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 50s & 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 352 | 20.70 | 41 | 0 & 0 |
Shaheen-Naseem gone
Shaheen Afridi hasn’t been the same since he came back from that 2022 injury. For a long period, there was a drop in his speed, and he was bowling around 125-130 kms. The pace has picked up in the last couple of months, but the record has stayed the same. He is no longer making the new ball to talk, and sacking him as the T20I captain hasn’t helped. He has averaged over 30 in the last three years, but in 2024, he has 3 wickets at 72. No wonder the selectors thought it was the time to rest/drop him.
However, resting Naseem Shah doesn’t seem fair. He was by far Pakistan’s best bowler in the first Test. On a placid Multan wicket, he got some assistance, but poor catching or umpire calls going against him didn’t help. His famed pairing with Shaheen may have seen him become the victim as well. The star pacers have been replaced by Mehran Mumtaz and Mohammad Ali while Haseebullah comes in for Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Pakistan’s squad for 2nd & 3rd England Tests
Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mehmood.
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