Why was Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan squad against England for the 2nd and 3rd Test?

The Pakistan Cricket Team, along with its former captain Babar Azam, has been experiencing a challenging period. Due to his recent underperformance, the PCB made the decision to exclude Babar Azam from the squad for the remaining matches of the PAK vs ENG Test series.

This has sent shock waves through the Pakistan cricket world as Babar Azam has been their best player over the years. PCB has now released a statement. The board’s statement indicated that the choice to rest certain players was based on an evaluation of their current form and fitness levels.

Virat Kohli at 22 won the WC, at 24 won CT, Test captain at 26 scored 4 centuries in Australia. 7 double centuries, 6 of them came in the span of 16 months.

After all this he had a lean patch, not mentioning his heroics in between, comparing this to Babar is a serious offence. pic.twitter.com/S3dadbFu9V

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 13, 2024

Why Babar Azam was dropped from Pakistan squad?

PCB said in a press release:

“Taking into consideration the current form and fitness of key players and looking ahead to Pakistan’s future assignments in the 2024-25 international cricket season, the selectors have decided to give rest to Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Abrar Ahmed (who is recovering from dengue fever) was unavailable for selection.”

“The four players have been replaced by Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam (all uncapped), fast bowler Mohammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan. Noman Ali and Zahid Mehmood, who were initially part of the original first Test squad but were subsequently released, have also been included in the 16-player squad.”

Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Test against England

• 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

Read more: Afro Asia Cup 2025: Will Virat Kohli and Babar Azam Play Together for Asia XI ?

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