The recent exclusion of Babar Azam from Pakistan vs England has raised many eyebrows in the cricket fraternity. The PCB revealed on Sunday that Babar, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah would be dropped for the second and third tests after a poor showing in the first test.
This decision is made after Pakistan’s humiliating defeat in Multan, where they were bowled out for a second time in the innings even though they scored over 550 runs in the first inning. His batting has been a major worry; Babar has not made a fifty since the start of the year, and his last big score was 161 against New Zealand in December 2022. Since then, he has failed, with an average of 20.33 and a cumulative total of 366 runs in this series, and has been a cause for debate regarding his position in the team.
In one of the video clips taken during the match, head coach Jason Gillespie and captain Shan Masood were seen consoling a Babar Azam. The video, which went viral on social media, showed how the decision affected Babar, who had been at the centre of Pakistan cricket.
A new selection committee comprising Aaqib Javed and Azhar Ali, for instance, said that they based their decision on the current form and fitness of the players. Javed believed that this break would do Babar and other dropped players a world of good and said that they are still important cricketers for Pakistan cricket.
The PCB’s decision has been heavily criticised, and former England captain Michael Vaughan called it "stupid." He said that his decision to drop a player like Babar could actually be counterproductive to the morale and performance of the team.
