Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah dropped for last two England Tests

In an extraordinary development, Pakistan have dropped three senior big guns in Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi & Naseem Shah, for the final two Tests of the ongoing three-Test series against England.

With Pakistan having not won any of their last 11 home Tests, including losing their last three, heads were expected to roll in the aftermath of the team’s embarrassing loss in the first Test against England.

And in the wake of the same, Babar, Shaheen and Naseem have proven to be the three biggest casualties. While Babar posted scores of 30 & 5 in the first Test in Multan, Naseem and Shaheen combined registered figures of 3/277, going at close to five runs per over between them. 

The three individuals, however, have been off-colour the entire year. While Babar averages 18.5 in 2024 and has not passed fifty in his last 18 Test innings, Shaheen and Naseem average 72 & 51 with the ball, respectively, this calendar year.

Pakistan have added off-spinner Sajid Khan to the squad alongside leggie Zahid Mehmood. Incidentally, Mehmood played in the three-Test series against England in 2022 where he took 12 wickets in two Tests but went at an economy of 6.94.

There has also been a call-up for uncapped left-arm spinner Mehran Mumtaz. The Rawalpindi-born left-arm spinner averages 33.62 in first-class cricket but enjoyed a good Champions One-Day Cup recently, taking seven wickets in four games for the Stallions. 

21-year-old wicketkeeper Haseebullah Khan has also received a call-up, as has right-arm seamer Mohammad Ali. 

Pakistan squad for second and third England Tests

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

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