Babar Azam had already dropped out of white-shirt cricket as a captain. New captain Shan Masood, however, has lost all his first six matches. But Babur has to take the responsibility of failure. As per the recommendation of the team selectors and 5 mentors appointed by the PCB, Babar Azam has been ruled out for the 2nd match of the Test series against England.
Babar Azam
The story of Babar Azam in two years in white clothes is only failure. This batsman has not scored a Test half-century since December 2022. Ever since that innings of 161 runs against New Zealand, Babar's performance graph has been going downhill. He scored 35 runs in two innings on a flat wicket against England. Babar averaged below 21 in nine Tests from 2023 to the last Test.
Babar did not play a single match in that first-class cricket competition in 2019. Babar's final appearance in the upcoming Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, if dropped from the national team. However, after the match against England, captain Shan Masood rightly referred to Babar as 'Pakistan's best batsman'. Coach Jason Gillespie also supported him.
However, from the selection panel of Pakistan to the policy makers of the party, the mind is not melting. 5 mentors also voted against Babar. The new committee felt that it would be beneficial for Babar to stay away from the national team for some time. As his runs become a big factor.
The new committee met within hours of the first Test loss. They met for the second time in Multan on Saturday. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and 5 consultants appointed on a three-year contract were present in that session. Shaan Masood and Jason Gillespie were not present in this meeting. However, both of them are part of Pakistan's newly formed selection panel.
Criticism of this newly formed selection panel has not decreased. Especially the inclusion of former umpire Aleem Dar was a major controversy. Apart from Alim Dar, there are former pacers Aqib Javed, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali and former ICC umpire Alim Dar, analyst Hasan Cheema, captain and head coach.
