Pakistan stalwart Babar Azam dropped for second England Test

Babar Azam has been dropped from the Pakistan squad to face England on Monday in Multan.

The former three format captain, alongside leading pace bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, have been ‘rested on the basis of current form and fitness’, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Pakistan became the first nation to score 500 in a Test match and go on to lose by an innings.

England knocked over 800 runs and whittled the hosts out in Multan last week for a famous victory in Pakistan.

It is understood that the same wicket will be used for the second Test due to the unresponsive nature of a fresh wicket in Multan.

“We have made the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi [from the Test squad]”, selector Aqib Javed said.

Uncapped players Haseebullah Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, and Kamran Ghulam have been included in the 16-man squad.

Some have suggested dropping Azam during a rough patch shows a lack of backing by the Pakistan Cricket Board, with the batter seen as one of the greats to come out of the nation.

Babar Azam in numbers

• 55 Tests
• 100 innings
• 3997 runs
• High score of 196
• 43.92 average
• 54.46 strike rate
• 9 centuries
• 26 50s

Squad: second and third Tests

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.