NEW DELHI: Regarding Pakistan’s great batsman Babar Azam’s exclusion from the next two Test matches against England, former England captain Nasser Hussain spoke, saying that although the batsman is “nick at the moment,” Babar is a guy who can get runs when things get tough.
Babar and the strike bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah were left out of Pakistan’s last Test series against England by the country’s new selection panel, in an unexpected decision made on Sunday.
“As for Pakistan, with their new selection panel, leaving out Babar Azam, I think England won’t mind. He’s a bit out of nick at the moment, but guys like him generally find a way of scoring runs when the pressure’s on. If I were in England’s shoes, I’d be pretty relaxed about turning up on Tuesday and finding a Pakistan team without their star batsman,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
In a year when he was named captain and saw his form decline after Pakistan lost in the group stages of this year’s T20 World Cup in June, Babar has not hit a half-century in a Test since 2022. With a 43.92 Test average, nine hundreds, and 26 half-centuries in 55 matches, the right-hander’s overall record is still outstanding.
Meanwhile, after recovering from a knee injury, Shaheen has had trouble getting back into his rhythm of taking wickets in Test matches.
Pakistan is going to use the contentious Multan surface from the first Test match against England for the second Test commencing on Tuesday, in an attempt to level the series.
Hussain cautioned that another surface that unduly favours the batsmen might be harmful to Test cricket, underscoring the need to create a more balanced pitch for the next Test.
“There’ll be plenty of talk this week about the fact that the second Test in Multan will be played on the same pitch as the first. But let’s be honest: Test cricket cannot afford another game like the one we had last week.
“There has to be a balance between bat and ball, and that means the pitch has to offer bowlers something at both ends of the game: movement for the seamers at the start, turn for the spinners at the end,” he wrote.