PAK vs ENG: After Babar Azam's 'this too shall pass' message for Virat Kohli, his own form dips; dropped from 2nd Test
Ahead of the 2nd Test, Pakistan has rested experienced cricketers Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed against England.
Updated : October 13, 2024 06:50 PM ISTAhead of the 2nd Test, Pakistan has rested experienced cricketers Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed against England.
Babar Azam
After everyone referred to the Multan Cricket Stadium as the 'national highway' pitch, many believed that Pakistan could at least win this clash after they managed to score 556 runs in their first innings against England in the 1st Test. However, things turned against them when the English side scored a mammoth 823 runs before declaring, and then got the host nation all out for just 220 runs, losing by an innings and 47 runs.
Now, ahead of the 2nd Test at the same venue, Pakistan has decided to "rest" experienced cricketers Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed for the remaining two Test matches against England. While many are shocked by this news, they were not surprised—especially regarding former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who scored 30 off 71 balls in the first innings and just 5 runs off 15 balls in the second innings.
🚨 Pakistan name squad for second and third Tests against England 🚨#PAKvENG | #TestAtHome pic.twitter.com/EHS9m84TXK
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 13, 2024
Interestingly, his old post for Virat Kohli, when the Indian batter was going through a rough patch, resurfaced. Since Babar Azam's "This too shall pass. Stay strong" message went viral in 2022, he has been sacked from the captaincy twice, has 0 away Player of the Match (POTM) awards, hit 0 sixes in the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup 2022, scored 0 fifties in Test cricket since December 2022, and has struggled against teams like the USA, Ireland, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and in-home Tests. Now, he has finally been dropped from the Pakistan Test team.
Babar Azam since this post:
— Johns (@JohnyBravo183) October 13, 2024
- Sacked from captaincy twice
- 0 away POTM awards
- 0 sixes in Asia Cup & T20 WC 2022
- 0 fifties in Test Cricket since Dec 2022
- Exposed vs USA/IRE/BAN/AFG & in home tests
Finally dropped from Pakistan test team. pic.twitter.com/Cko5MKJpJf
Many on X (formerly known as Twitter) trolled the star batter, there were some also empathising with him, hoping this phase of Babar "too shall pass".
The last time Babar Azam missed a Test match for Pakistan was back in January 2021.
— Saabir Zafar (@Saabir_Saabu01) October 13, 2024
He has now been dropped from the Pakistan squad for the remainder of Tests against England. 🤯👀
A Test without Babar Azam after 3 years.#BabarAzam #PAKvENG #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/t5LOgTRFBN
An obviously sad sight to see a player like Babar Azam getting rested for home tests but it's for his own benefit I reckon. Dude needs to focus on his fitness as well as batting. Come back stronger, the greatest batsman in Pakistan. @babarazam258
— Asra (@AsraManzoor) October 13, 2024
Not that I agree with Pakistan dropping Babar Azam but Virat played few Tests in 2020 split by a pandemic. Had decent contributions frequently in 2021 overseas. His peak in Test cricket was one of the best the format has ever seen not the same case here. https://t.co/06b5t3rw5r
— Stephen (@albatrosscric) October 13, 2024
- No Babar Azam
— Ahsan Shah 💙 (@parh_ly_ahsan) October 13, 2024
- No Shaheen Afridi
- No Naseem Shah
Huge changes in Pakistan cricket for the next two Tests against England. Can Pakistan win now? 🇵🇰😲 #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/WgXd0X4mGx
According to Cricbuzz, the four players have been replaced by Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, and 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 Tests: Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamer 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 and Zahid Mehmood.