Babar Azam was not kept for the second Test against England. There is an uproar in Pakistan cricket about this. However, the team's assistant coach Azhar Mahmood claimed that he was not excluded. He claimed that Babar has been given rest. He was not injured though.

On Sunday, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Babar will not play in the second Test against England. It is also claimed that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah have withdrawn themselves from that test.

Azhar Mahmud said, Babar was not excluded. He has been rested. A lot has happened in the past few months. Although mentally strong, some things keep going in the head. Babar wanted to play. But the decision to rest him is good. He will be able to return refreshed in the coming days. After that we have to play continuously till April.

Although Babar is not in form since 2023. The former Pakistan captain did not score a Test century after 2022. He scored 366 runs in the last nine Tests. Average 20.33. It was heard that Babar was dropped for no runs with the bat.

However, Mahmud is not willing to accept this argument. He said, Babar is our number one batter. There can be no question about that. We know about his technique and ability. But there are many matches ahead of Pakistan now. That is why the selectors have decided to rest Babar. Then we have to play against Australia and Zimbabwe. There is also a match against South Africa. So rest is important.

The Pakistan-England second Test has started from Tuesday. That match is happening in Multan. The second Test started on Tuesday on the same pitch as the previous match. Two pacers Shaheen and Naseem are not in the team in the match.

Mahmud said, this is the third match of the new management. Earlier we had trouble taking 20 wickets from the opposition. That's why we decided to play more spinners. Naseem has minor injuries. Shaheen is playing a lot of cricket. That is why they have been rested.