Pakistan captain Babar Azam ruled out of 1st Test against England; Salman Agha to lead
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistan captain Babar Azam ruled out of 1st Test against England; Salman Agha to lead")
Babar Azam ruled out of 1st Test against England; Salman Agha to lead Pakistan Photograph: (AFP)
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been ruled out of the 1st Test against England at Headingley due to a hand injury. All-rounder Salman Ali Agha will lead the side in his absence.
Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam is ruled out of the first Test against England starting on Wednesday (Aug 19) at Headingley due to a hand injury he suffered in the side’s scheduled warm-up fixture in Beckenham. Unfortunately for the country’s talismanic batter, he was hit on the same hand that suffered a blow during the West Indies tour earlier this month. White-ball skipper Salman Ali Agha will lead Pakistan in the series opener in Babar’s absence.
"Pakistan captain Babar Azam is unavailable for the first Test match," Pakistan coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said. "Salman Agha will be the captain for the first Test."
The coach detailed the extent of Babar’s absence, confirming that it’s confined to the first Test only, as he has not suffered a fracture on his middle finger of the right hand.
"The medical team is assessing Babar. He has quite a bit of pain in the finger," Sarfaraz said. "There are still a few days to go before the second Test. Hopefully, he will recover by then."
Babar’s absence comes at a time for Pakistan when they looked to build on the momentum created following their rare away win in the second Test in the Caribbean, where Babar was the highest run-scorer for his team across two Tests. Just after he again assumed captaincy duties on the West Indies tour, Babar roared back to form, hitting two fifties in four innings, registering 88 in the second Test.
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During the warm-up game, Babar got hit on the same hand and did not participate in the remainder of the match, which Pakistan won. The team was, however, pessimistic about his chances for the series opener, and much to their disappointment, the worst happened: Babar was ruled out of the first Test.
Meanwhile, Agha, amongst the few regulars across formats, has never captained Pakistan in Tests despite being an integral part of the team’s leadership group. The right-hander will enter this Test series on the back of a disappointing tour of the Caribbean, where he scored just 20 runs in three innings.
"Our practice match gave us a lot of confidence. Whatever bases we needed to cover with bat and ball, we did. We believe we'll do very well here,” the coach added while detailing the possible XI for the first Test.
Former captain Shan Masood has also recovered from a fractured finger and is ready to start for Pakistan.
