Pakistan cricket has been plunged into fresh chaos as the national cricket board dropped star batsman and former all-format captain Babar Azam from the squad for the second and third Tests against England.
Pakistan's red-ball team has hit rock bottom following a 2-0 series whitewash at home against Bangladesh and a morale-crushing innings and 47-run defeat in the first Test in Multan against England.
Babar will miss the matches in Multan and Rawalpindi after their latest loss handed Pakistan their sixth consecutive Test defeat and left them bottom of the World Test Championship standings.
The star batsman failed in both innings, scoring just 35 runs on a Multan pitch where the home team first made 556 and England then smashed 823-7 declared in almost the same number of overs (150).
As Pakistan became the first team in history to lose by an innings after scoring 500, tough decisions were expected to be made. However, few expected the Pakistan cricket board to drop Azam, while also giving rest to fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.
Babar has been under the scanner for some time now. He stepped down as captain in all formats following Pakistan's elimination from the 2023 ODI World Cup, but four months later, he was re-appointed as the white-ball captain but his second tenure also proved unsuccessful, leading him to resign once again.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood had earlier voiced his support following the innings defeat to England, calling Babar "Pakistan's best batter" and asking for players to be given more time.
However, the new selection committee thought otherwise and decided to make wholesale changes.
"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," Aqib Javed, member of the PCB selection committee, said in a statement.
Several new names were added to the squad, including uncapped batsmen Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz and Kamran Ghulam, fast bowler Mohammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan.
The extreme decision drew a lot of criticism. Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman came out in support of Babar right after the squad was announced.
"It’s concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively," Zaman wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan went one step ahead and called it a "stupid decision".
"So Pakistan haven’t won in a while .. Go 1 nil down in the series and decide to drop the best player. I guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises but this tops the lot .. absolutely stupid decision .. unless he has asked for a break !!!" Vaughan said in a post on X.
The second Test in Multan starts on Tuesday. The home team have decided to play the second match on the same pitch as the first Test, with the aim of bringing spin into play early on.
Uncapped batsman Ghulam who has been scoring consistently in domestic cricket is likely to replace Babar at number four.
Ben Stokes returns
Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has been cleared to return to the side for the second Test after missing the last four matches due to a hamstring injury.
Stokes picked up the injury in August while playing in The Hundred, with Ollie Pope captaining the Test team in his absence.
Seamer Matthew Potts has also been named in the playing 11 for the first time since August, with fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes rested for the second match in Multan.
