LAHORE: In a significant decision, Pakistan’s national selectors dropped on Sunday out-of-form batter Babar Azam, frontline pace bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah while sidelining experienced wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed for the remaining two Tests against England.

Pakistan lost the first Test in Multan by a huge margin of an innings and 47 runs — as England amassed a mammoth 823-7 declared — inviting heaps of criticism from all quarters concerned. The Shan Masood-led beleaguered squad, who were stunningly swept 2-0 at home by Bangladesh last month, face England in the second Test starting at the same venue on Tuesday. The third Test will be staged in Rawalpindi from Oct 24-28.

“Taking into consideration the current form and fitness of key players and looking ahead to Pakistan’s future assignments in the 2024-25 international season, the selectors have decided to give rest to Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi [for the second and third Tests against England],” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a press release issued on Sunday.

“The four players have been replaced by [wicket-keeper] Haseebullah, [left-arm spinner] Mehran Mumtaz, [batter] Kamran Ghulam [all uncapped], [fast bowler] Mohammad Ali and [off-spinner] Sajid Khan.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,” the release added.

“[Mystery spinner] Abrar Ahmed [who is recovering from dengue fever] was unavailable for selection.”

Since making his Test debut against West Indies in Dubai in 2016, right-handed Babar — considered by many as one of the most impressive batters in modern-day game — 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 batter, who will be 30 on Tuesday, is just three runs short of 4,000 runs in Test cricket with nine centuries and 26 half-centuries under his belt.

However, Babar has experienced a lean period in five-day cricket since January last year. In the 17 innings of his last nine Tests, he has managed to collect 352 runs at a scanty average of 20.70 with 39 being his highest score during this period. Being the main batter of the national team, his poor run of form has affected Pakistan badly.

Babar, sources said, was advised by the selectors to take a break to regain confidence and before staging a comeback after the ongoing series against England.

Interestingly, sources said that Shaheen and Naseem — who have struggled to perform at crucial stages in recent times — themselves withdrew their names from selection, fearing they were carrying minor niggles and to avoid any major injuries they had decided to skip the remaining Tests.

Former captain Sarfraz was part of the squad for the England series but was not included in the playing XI in the first Test.

Meanwhile, Aaqib Javed, the newly-inducted as member of the selection committee, said picking the 16-member national squad for the final two England Tests was not easy.

“Selecting the squad has been a challenging task for the selectors. We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule. With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve made the decision to rest Babar, Naseem, Sarfraz and Shah­een,” Aaqib was quoted as saying.

“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these [four] players regain their fitness, confidence and composure, ensuring they return in top shape for future challenges. They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket.

“We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger.

Aaqib added, “At the same time, we are offering opportunities to [uncapped players] like Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, and Kamran Ghulam, along with Mohammad Ali, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood. They now have the chance to showcase their skills against a formidable England side.”

Haseebullah and Mehran, who were part of the Pakistan Shaheens squad for the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup, have been replaced with Maaz Sadaqat and Rohail Nazir.

Squad (for second and third Tests):

Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mehmood.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2024