Babar and Shaheen dropped from the Pakistan from Test squad for 2nd and 3rd tests against England.

After the loss in the first test against England at Multan from an innings and 47 runs , Pakistan has pressed the panic button ahead of the next two matches. 2nd and 3rd test will be played at Multan and Rawalpindi respectively. Hours after the embarrassing loss against England , Pakistan Cricket Board officials had a meeting in Lahore where they first appointed new selection committee which includes :

• Asad Shafique
• Aqib Javed
• Aleem Dar
• Azhar Ali
• Hassan Cheema (Data Analyst)
• Head Coach (Jason Gillespie)
• Captain (Shan Masood)

Selection Committee excluding Shan Masood and the Head Coach in Lahore decided to drop Babar , Shaheen and Naseem from the rest of series. It is important to note that Committee has used the word “Rest” for the exclusion of these players. Selection Committee member Aqib Javed official statement is:

“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these 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“.

PCB Circus on Babar and Shaheen being dropped :

Babar has not scored a fifty from the last 18 innings. His last fifty came in tests in december 2022 but he still remains the best talent in current lot so dropping him doesn’t make any sense.

Shaheen has been hot and cold from few matches but he can surely be better only while playing. PCB made him play domestic Champions Cup in scorching heat of Faisalabad after dropping him versus Bangladesh,now after only one match on a flat deck, PCB again has dropped him.

Naseem on the other hand bowled really well on placid multan motorway aka pitch considering dropped chances on his bowling. Naseem’s second new ball spell was a class in itself and even on slightly neutral wicket, he would have run through the England batting lineup. It is also true Naseem has been making a comeback in tests after a year and he has been dropped after two tests so how can he develop ?

The Reports from various journalists are that Captain Shan Masood and Head Coach was not keen to drop Babar. Shan in post match conference had backed Babar and emphasized on giving long run to players. This whole scenario shows the drama and inconsistency in the Board and team.

Squad for the 2nd and 3rd tests is :

 Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood

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Check the official PCB statement on selection Committee at PCB.