Babar Azam Responds to Pakistan Cricket’s Mid-Series Shake-Up After Surprise Changes

Pakistan’s test captain, Babar Azam has finally spoken about all the chaos and fiasco surrounding the several changes made to the national team by the Pakistan Cricket Board mid-way through their ongoing test series against England in England. He revealed that he was not even consulted about dropping seven players from the team and changes to the coaching setup.

The PCB made this drastic change ahead of the team’s third test after the men in green suffered a humiliating defeat in the first two test matches of the series. After the loss in the second test match at the home of cricket, the Lord’s by 194 runs, PCB sent packing many of the established players from the current squad home.

Speaking to the press, ahead of the third test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham, Pakistan skipper admitted that the developments in the team and the coaching set-up came as a surprise even to him.

‘PCB did not consult me’

Babar, 31 made it clear that the decision to overhaul the team was taken entirely by the PCB. He said, “It was news to me as well. I also came to know about it later. Since the PCB made the decision, they can explain it better,” during the pre-match press conference. The skipper added that he was not involved in the decision to send as many as seven players back or the changes made to the coaching staff. The players that were sent home include Mohammad Rizwan, Awais Zafar, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal, Salman Ali Agha, and Imam-ul-Haq.

I am fit to lead at Edgbaston

Amidst all the changes made to the team and the turmoil surrounding Pakistan cricket, Babar Azam confirmed that he is fit to lead Pakistan in the final test of the series. He had earlier missed a training session after suffering from fever and he has since fully recovered from his illness and will be fit to lead the team onto the park at Edgbaston. Pakistan will look to put aside all the issues around the team, and avoid a series whitewash.

England Squad

Joe Root (Captain), Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith (Wicket-keeper), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir, Sonny Baker, Sam Cook, Ollie Pope

Pakistan Squad

Babar Azan (Captain), Azan Awais, Abdullah Shafique, Sham Masood, Saim Ayub, Saud Shakeel, Ghazi Ghori (Wicket-keeper), Arafat Minhas, Ubaid Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Sajid Khan, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Mohammad Imran, Saad Baig, Abdullah Fazal, Razaullah