You are here

  • Home
  • Former captain Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan squad for second England Test

Former captain Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan squad for second England Test

Former captain Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan squad for second England Test
England's players celebrate after the dismissal of Pakistan's Babar Azam (R) during the fourth day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and England at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on October 10, 2024. (AFP)
Short Url

https://arab.news/rf93h

Updated 13 October 2024
Follow

Former captain Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan squad for second England Test

Former captain Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan squad for second England Test
  • Babar has not scored a fifty in his last 18 Test innings and managed just 30 and five in the first Test which England won
  • The PCB said it had rested Babar, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi so that they could come back afresh
Updated 13 October 2024
KASHIF IMRAN
Follow

ISLAMABAD: Former captain Babar Azam among four top players has been dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the second Test match against England, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Sunday.
The development comes amid a shake-up in the Pakistan Test team after their innings and 47-run defeat in the first Test against England.
The PCB said it had rested Babar, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi so that they could come back afresh.
“Selecting the squad for the upcoming Tests against England has been a challenging task for the selectors. They had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule,” the board said in a statement.
“Babar Azam is the best batsman of his generation and the PCB wants a mentally refreshed Babar to represent the Pakistan side in future.”
Babar has not scored a fifty in his last 18 Test innings and managed just 30 and five in the first Test which England won on Friday after piling up 823-7 declared.
The statement came after Pakistan announced a 16-player squad with three uncapped players named for the second Test which begins in Multan on Tuesday.
Spinner Abrar Ahmed has been left out after being taken ill. Abrar was hospitalized after a high fever which forced him to miss the fourth and fifth day of the first Test.
The uncapped Kamran Ghulam, 29, should get the nod to replace Azam at number four in the batting line-up. Two other potential debutants were called up in the shape of wicketkeeper-batsman Haseebullah and left-arm spinner Mehran Mumtaz.
Fast bowler Mohammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan were also included.
Since making his Test debut against the West Indies in Dubai in 2016, Babar has missed only five Tests, two in his first series, one against England at Leeds in 2018 and two in New Zealand in 2020.
The axe fell on Azam, Shaheen and Naseem two days after the PCB reconstituted their selection panel bringing in former pace bowler Aaqib Javed and Azhar Ali along with the incumbent Asad Shafiq.
In a rare move the PCB also included former elite panel umpire Aleem Dar.
After Pakistan’s defeat, skipper Shan Masood and head coach Jason Gillespie backed Babar, saying he just needed time to regain his form.
Babar was once the International Cricket Council’s top-ranked batsman in all three formats, and is still number one in the one-day international rankings.
Since the start of 2023 his form has nosedived. He averages under 21 in his last nine Tests, scoring just 126 in six innings in Australia and 64 in the two home Tests against Bangladesh last month.
Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Agha, Zahid Mehmood.
With additional input from AFP.

Topics: Babar Azam Pakistan-England Test series

Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam

Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
Updated 5 min 3 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam

Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
  • Pakistan on Sunday left out Azam from the second England Test squad after he failed to pass 50 in his last 18 Test innings
  • It is the first time Azam has been dropped from the Pakistan team since his white-ball debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015
Updated 5 min 3 sec ago
AFP

MULTAN: Babar Azam was on top of the world two years ago — Pakistan captain and top-rated batsman in all three formats — but he will celebrate his 30th birthday at home on Tuesday when the second Test against England begins in Multan.
Pakistan on Sunday left out Azam from the second Test squad after a poor run of form where he has failed to pass fifty in his last 18 Test innings.
It is the first time Azam has been dropped from the Pakistan team since his white-ball debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015 and Test baptism against the West Indies a year later.
Azam shot to prominence with three successive hundreds in an ODI series against the West Indies in 2016.
He replaced India great Virat Kohli as world number one ODI batsman five years later, a place he still occupies having been briefly deposed in between.
He is still ranked fourth among Twenty20 batsmen but it is the long format where his form has suffered the most and his slump has seen him fall outside the world’s top 10.
A 13-year-old Azam was a ball boy in Pakistan’s Test against South Africa in Lahore in 2007, where he could watch his childhood idol AB de Villiers.
From the streets of Lahore he rose to play in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, topping the batting charts for Pakistan with 298 runs in six games.
Two years in at the U19 World Cup in Australia he was captain and again leading run-scorer, with 287.
In 2015 he was picked for the senior side and after thrilling in the white-ball game developed into a modern-day great in all three formats, often drawing comparison with Kohli.
His opening partnership with Mohammad Rizwan in Twenty20s has realized 3,268 runs in 70 innings — the most by a pair in the format.
He anchored Pakistan’s only T20 World Cup win over arch-rivals India in 2021 in Dubai.
He hit an epic 196 against the famed Australian pace attack of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to draw a Test in Karachi in 2022 — hailed as one of the greatest innings in Pakistan.
But the pressure of captaining a struggling Pakistan took its toll and began to affect Azam’s form with the bat.
Following Pakistan’s first round exit from the 50-over World Cup in India last November, where his side lost to Afghanistan for the first time, Azam stepped down from the captaincy in all three formats.
When the Pakistan Cricket Board hierarchy changed in April this year he was reinstated as white-ball skipper.
But it proved to be a short-lived tenure as Pakistan lost a T20 to Ireland before crashing out of the T20 World Cup in June after being stunned by the USA and losing to India.
He resigned as white ball captain for a second time earlier this month.
But it was in Tests where his form deserted him the most and a poor run in the series defeat against Bangladesh last month saw him score just 64 in four innings.
His 30 and five on a faultless Multan batting wicket in the first Test defeat against England, coupled with the formation of a new selection panel straight after, saw him left out for the second Test despite a vote of confidence from captain Shan Masood and his coach Jason Gillespie
He was seen in an emotional discussion with Gillespie on Sunday at Multan stadium before leaving the squad for the journey home to Lahore.
The break from cricket will give a tired Azam time to rest, reflect and recuperate, after two years of mental, emotional and physical toil on the front line of a struggling side.
“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these players, especially Azam, regain their confidence,” said selector Aaqib Javed.

Topics: Babar Azam

England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return

England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return
Updated 59 min 40 sec ago
AFP
Follow

England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return

England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return
  • The 33-year-old had missed the first Test which England won under stand-in skipper Ollie Pope by an innings and 47 runs
  • England spokesman says Stokes practiced with the team on Sunday and if declared fit, he will likely replace Chris Woakes
Updated 59 min 40 sec ago
AFP

MULTAN: England captain Ben Stokes looks on course to return for the second Test against Pakistan, starting in Multan on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old had missed the first Test which England won under stand-in skipper Ollie Pope by an innings and 47 runs on Friday.
An England team spokesman said Stokes practiced with the team on Sunday. If Stokes is declared fit, he is likely to replace Chris Woakes.
“Ben bowled about four overs at full pace today. He has done some high intensity running and had about a 45-minute batting session in the nets,” said the spokesman.
“He will be assessed after today and a decision will be made on his availability over the course of the next 24 hours.”
England normally name their team two days before the start of a Test, but will wait until a final verdict on Stokes’s fitness on Monday before announcing their side.
Stokes tore his left hamstring while batting during the Hundred domestic competition in August which forced him to sit out of England’s 2-1 home series win over Sri Lanka last month, also led by Pope.
The third and final Test will be played in Rawalpindi from October 24.

Topics: Pakistan-England Test series

Pakistan police detain at least 20 people amid protests over blasphemy case in Karachi

Pakistan police detain at least 20 people amid protests over blasphemy case in Karachi
Updated 13 October 2024
Follow

Pakistan police detain at least 20 people amid protests over blasphemy case in Karachi

Pakistan police detain at least 20 people amid protests over blasphemy case in Karachi
  • The Sindh provincial administration imposed a ban on rallies after announcements of protests by rights group, religious party
  • The Sindh Rawadari Committee rights group demanded arrest of police officers deemed guilty of killing a blasphemy suspect
Updated 13 October 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Pakistani police on Sunday detained at least 20 people from two opposing groups as they attempted to hold demonstrations in the southern city of Karachi over a blasphemy case amid a ban on public gatherings, police and rights activists said.
The Sindh Rawadari Committee, a human rights group based in the Sindh province that Karachi is the capital of, had planned a demonstration demanding the arrest of police officers implicated in the killing of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbar, who was shot dead on Sept. 19 in an alleged encounter after being accused of spreading blasphemous content online.
Simultaneously, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party announced its own rally from the Teen Talwar roundabout in the city to the Karachi Press Club. In response to the announcements by both sides, the district authorities on Saturday imposed Section 144 and prohibited gatherings of more than five people in the southern port city for five days.
On Sunday, police sealed off streets leading to the Karachi Press Club with shipping containers and deployed hundreds of personnel across the city, particularly in the Red Zone, which houses important government buildings.
“We have found about 20 to 25 person who were flouting the law, trying to stage agitation in a sensitive area,” said Asad Raza, deputy inspector general of police in Karachi’s South district, adding that protesters from both sides had been taken into protective custody.
“We have deployed a considerable force in the area around the Karachi Press Club and have restricted entry to the adjoining streets.”
But hundreds of rights activists defied the ban to reach the Karachi Press Club, where they were baton-charged by the police.
“The police resorted to worst torture and arrested dozens of activists,” said Qazi Khizar, vice president of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) Sindh chapter.
Following the announcement of protests, Raza said, the district administration had advised all parties to avoid and prevent any breakdown of law, considering the sensitivity of the situation.
A notification issued from the Karachi commissioner’s office said on Saturday that public gatherings had been banned for five days due to potential security risks stemming from protest calls by different factions for the same day, Sunday.
Asad Iqbal Butt, chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), voiced his support for the Sindh Rawadari Committee’s protest march, criticizing authorities for “succumbing to pressure from religious groups” by restricting it.
“We simply demand that those who have taken the law into their own hands be arrested and brought to justice,” he said.
Dr. Kumbar was killed in a controversial shootout in the Mirpurkhas district of Sindh after his arrest in Karachi. An official inquiry later found the encounter was staged, resulting in the suspension of several police officials, including DIG Javed Jiskani and SSPs Asad Choudhary and Asif Raza Baloch.

Topics: Karachi Police Pakistan blasphemy Anti blasphemy protest

16 killed in latest northwest Pakistan sectarian clash

16 killed in latest northwest Pakistan sectarian clash
Updated 13 October 2024
AFP
Follow

16 killed in latest northwest Pakistan sectarian clash

16 killed in latest northwest Pakistan sectarian clash
  • Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes have been engaged in intermittent fighting for several months in the Kurram district
  • A convoy of Sunnis was traveling under the protection of paramilitary soldiers on Saturday when they came under attack
Updated 13 October 2024
AFP

ISLAMABAD: At least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a fresh sectarian clash in Pakistan’s northwest, officials said.
Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes have been engaged in intermittent fighting for several months in the Kurram district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Kurram, formerly a semi-autonomous area, has a history of bloody confrontations between tribes belonging to the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam that have claimed hundreds of lives over the years.
A convoy of Sunnis was traveling under the protection of paramilitary soldiers on Saturday when they came under attack, a senior Kurram administration official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
“As a result, 14 people, including 3 women and 2 children, were killed, and six others were wounded,” he said.
Frontier police responded and killed two of the attackers, who were identified as Shiites, he said.
The official said the latest attack had “sectarian motives” that “have plagued the region for the past two decades.”
“Every conflict tends to take on a sectarian dimension,” he said.
Other recent clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council, called a ceasefire.
Officials are attempting to broker a fresh truce.
Tribal and family feuds are common in Pakistan.
However, they can be particularly protracted and violent in remote areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where communities abide by traditional tribal honor codes.
The Shiite community in Pakistan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, has long suffered discrimination and violence.

Topics: Kurram Agency sectarian clashes

Bowlers’ graveyards: Pakistan’s placid pitches under fresh fire

Bowlers’ graveyards: Pakistan’s placid pitches under fresh fire
Updated 13 October 2024
AFP
Follow

Bowlers’ graveyards: Pakistan’s placid pitches under fresh fire

Bowlers’ graveyards: Pakistan’s placid pitches under fresh fire
  • England piled up 823-7 last week in Multan on wicket described as a “road” by ex-cricketer Michael Vaughan 
  • Pakistani pitches have become more docile in past 2 years, each Test wicket now costing an average of 42.13 runs
Updated 13 October 2024
AFP

MULTAN: Australia pace legend Dennis Lillee denounced a pitch in Pakistan as a “graveyard for bowlers” in 1980, but more than 40 years later little has changed.
Lillee vented his anger after toiling for 21 wicketless overs in Faisalabad in a turgid draw.
All 11 Australian players, even wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, had a turn bowling in Pakistan’s second innings of 382-2 in reply to Australia’s 617 all out as the game petered out into near farce.
Last week, on a wicket described as “a road” by former captain Michael Vaughan, England rewrote the record books as they piled up 823-7 declared in reply to Pakistan’s 556 in the first Test in Multan.
The total was the fourth highest single innings in Test history.
Harry Brook plundered 317 at almost a run a ball and Joe Root became England’s highest Test run scorer during his career-best 262.
Their stand of 454 for the fourth wicket was an England record, the fourth highest in history and the most by any pair playing overseas.
Despite the lifeless pitch, England’s bowlers pulled off an innings and 47 run victory after Pakistan crumbled to 220 all out in their second innings.
It gave Pakistan an unwanted record — the first team to score 500 or more and lose a Test by an innings.
England batting great Kevin Pietersen said on X that the lack of help for bowlers in Multan, where the second Test begins on Tuesday, was “helping destroy Test cricket.”
It is a “perennial problem,” former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram told AFP. “For years it has been the same old story. Very rarely we used to get green and lively pitches in the 1990s and had to bowl long spell for wickets.”
Rashid Latif, a former Pakistan captain who has studied pitch preparation, said there was no need for the pitches to be curated so overwhelmingly in the batsmen’s favor.
“We can prepare good pitches but our mindset is negative,” Latif told AFP.
“There was good grass on the Multan pitch but it was shaved off, I don’t know on whose wishes.”
Former spinner and ex-selector Tauseef Ahmed, a member of Pakistan team who played in the infamous 1980 Faisalabad Test, said: “Our batters want a flat pitch to score runs.
“Even in domestic matches we have such pitches so that players score big and get prominence.”
The last two years has seen Pakistan pitches get even more docile. Each Test wicket there now costs an average of 42.13 runs, the highest anywhere in the world.
Pitch preparation is a science, with experts saying the ideal soil mix is around 60 percent clay with less sand, such as that found in Australia.
It produces firm and bouncy tracks which begin to take more spin over five days, providing a balance between ball and bat.
One local groundsman said pitches were a big problem in Pakistan.
“There are multiple factors from weather to interference from the team management who want it to suit them,” said the curator, who did not want to be named.
“That makes the process complex. A good pitch needs sun to bake it but in some weather we do not get that,” he said.
“A Test pitch needed to be cared for six months or a year but our pitches are over-used so they become flat.”
Latif said serious work was needed to lift the standard of pitches.
“There should be a research department under a good geologist to ascertain how a good pitch can be prepared,” said Latif.
He also wanted to see Australian Kookaburra balls used in Pakistan ditched for those with a more prominent seam to help bowlers.
“We need to have Grays, Duke or SG balls for our type of clay, which are hand-stitched,” said Latif.
Two years ago, Pakistan and Australia scored 1,187 runs with just 14 wickets taken in a soporific draw in Rawalpindi.
The then Pakistan cricket chief Ramiz Raja blasted the playing surface: “We live in the dark ages of pitches in Pakistan. This is not a good advert for Test cricket.”
With the second Test starting in Multan Tuesday and the third in Rawalpindi next week, it seems unlikely the bowlers will get any respite soon.

Topics: Pakistan cricket Multan Test

Latest updates

Israel reinforces ban on UN chief entering country over Iran attack comments
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the 14th ASEAN-United Nations Summit at the National Convention Centre
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in green at 12,069
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in green at 12,069
Iraq walks fine line with pro-Iran factions to avoid war
Iraq walks fine line with pro-Iran factions to avoid war
UN says Israeli tanks burst through gates of peacekeeper base
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on October 11, 2024.
Under bombardment, Lebanon’s expectant mothers fear for their unborn babies
Tahani Yassine, who left Beirut suburbs to move to a safer neighborhood before giving birth, looks at her baby at Trad hospital.

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.