Pakistan

Pakistan has decided to rest Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Sarfaraz Ahmed from the remaining two Tests squad against England. This comes after Pakistan's innings and 47 runs loss in the first Test despite scoring 556 runs in the first innings.

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Babar last played a significant innings in December 2022, scoring 161 against New Zealand in Karachi. Since then, the former skipper has gone half century-less in 18 Test innings with a highest score of 41 against Australia in Melbourne earlier this year.

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam (all uncapped), fast bowler Mohammad Ali, and off-spinner Sajid Khan as the replacements in the 16-man squad.

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The decision was taken by newly-looking selection panel of Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali joining Asad Shafiq, Hasan Cheema, and Test coach Jason Gillespie, along with Test captain Shan Masood.

"We've had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan's demanding 2024-25 international schedule. With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we've made the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi," said selection panel member Aaqib Javed.

Pakistan's head curator, Tony Hemming, has also been given instructions to make the Multan pitch - the venue of second Test - spinner friendly, reported cricket news website Cricbuzz.

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It is to be noted that Multan was also the venue of first test, and the second Test, which starts October 16, will be played on the same pitch as the first one.

Pakistan squad for 2nd and 3rd Test: Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamer 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 and Zahid Mehmood.