‘90% fit’ Babar Azam confirmed to captain Pakistan in Lord’s Test against England

Babar Azam has recovered 90% from the finger injury he suffered in the lead-up to the Test series against England and is now confirmed to return and lead his team in the second Test at Lord’s. Babar suffered a blow to the middle finger of his right hand while batting during Pakistan’s only warm-up match in Beckenham, and thus was ruled out of the series opener at Headingley, which Pakistan lost inside three days. While bowling coach Umar Gul provided a key update on Babar’s fitness, saying he looked comfortable during the net sessions on Tuesday, Pakistan’s talismanic batter confirmed his comeback to the playing XI.

"I had a couple of practice sessions," Babar said on the eve of the match. "I'm 90% fit for tomorrow and the rest of the series."

After the press briefing in London on Wednesday, Babar returned to face more throwdowns in the nets, but notably, no fast bowling. Unfortunately for him and Pakistan, England is highly unlikely to play a spinner in the second Test.

Meanwhile, sitting on the sidelines and watching his team collapse cheaply across both innings in the first Test, Babar said it was the batting unit’s collective failure but added that it’s not the end of the world for his team.

"You need to produce complete team performances. You have to bowl and bat in partnerships. And you have to take it deep as a batter if you're set. If you're set, it's a little easier. For a new batter, it's a little bit difficult to build partnerships,” Babar reflected on Pakistan’s performance in the first Test.

Changes in Batting Order

With Babar Azam returning to the playing XI, Pakistan would have to reshuffle its top order for the second Test. Azam Awais is expected to make way for his regular captain, with Shan Masood likely to pair up with Imam-ul-Haq in the opening. That opens the number three slot for Abdullah Shafique to grab, while Babar will bat at his usual position at four.

"The number Abdullah is batting, he should [continue to] play there," Babar said. "He's batted three and four since his comeback. He's got confidence there so he'll continue there. We need to [stamp out] the back-to-back wickets we lose. The senior batters need to be more focused and make up for it."

Babar will lead Pakistan for the first time in a Test match in England, and he feels honoured to do that.

"When you lead the Pakistan side on this ground, it's an honour," Babar said. "I do my best on the field as captain, and when I'm batting, I just play my game. Our stats here are good, and we'd like to continue that. We will forget about the first Test and are looking forward to this one."