Pakistan cricket team suffered an embarrassing defeat in the 1st Test Match against England. The Men in Green became the first team to lose a Test match after scoring 500+ runs in 1st innings. In the wake up of the change in PCB, Babar Azam has been reportedly rested for the last 2 Test Matches. Babar Azam wasn’t able to perform according to the credentials even on a flat surface and his last 18 innings’ were’t promising.
England fans will be thrilled as their skipper Ben Stokes is back for 2nd Test match. Ben Stokes is someone who can contribute in all the 3 facets of the game and is often termed to be the man with the golden arm. England still has a slight chance of qualifying for ICC WTC 2023-25 final where they have to win all the remaining 2 Test matches and the next 3 Test matches against New Zealand in their backyard.
Babar Azam has been rested- Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood, the assistant coach was having an interaction with the media ahead of 2nd Test match which is on 15th October. Azhar Mahmood made it very clear that the management and selection panel wanted to rest Babar Azam ahead of a busy away schedule. Azhar also backed Babar to come good and didn’t doubt his technique and style of batting.
“He hasn’t been dropped. He has been rested. The management also understands that there has been a lot happening in the last few months. Mentally, even if you say you’re strong, it still goes on in the back of the mind. He was willing to play. But it was the decision for him and Pakistan team to give him a rest so that he can come fresh. Because after this, we’re playing till April next year,” said Azhar Mahmood.
“Babar is our No.1 player. There is no question about that- his technique and ability. If you look at Pakistan’s FTP, there’s a lot of cricket coming up. So, because of that, the selection committee decided that this was the best time to give Babar a rest. After that, we have to go to Australia and Zimbabwe and there is a South Africa tour as well. So that’s important,” he stated.
Pakistan cricket in deep trouble
With a high voltage Test series against England going on, it looks quite astonishing that all 3 star players Babar, Shaheen & Naseem are rested. ECB would think twice before agreeing for a Test series in Pakistan given now England becomes favorite to again whitewash Pakistan in this series by 3-0.
Head coach Brendon McCullum even would be backing the likes of Harry Brook and Joe Root to smash big tons and dominate the hosts. It would be interesting to see whether the curator at Multan prepares a rank turner in a very short span of 4-5 days and it can backfire for Pakistan as well as England has got Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach who bowled wicket to wicket and got success even on a flat track on Day 5 of 1st Test match.