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Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman was visibly unhappy with Babar Azam's exclusion from the Test squad for the rest of England series. Raja feels that it should have been Babar's call as he needed rest, not to get dropped from the squad. He expressed his disappointment during a conversation with former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton.
"It should have been Babar's call whether he wanted time out of the playing XI or not. It was a kneejerk reaction, new selectors in. The general opinion was he needed rest and he was taken out of the squad completely," Raja told Sky Sports.
Babar has been struggling in red-ball cricket with no half-century to his name in last nine Tests. On batting friendly conditions at home, Babar has looked a pale shadown of himself. Raja feels that Babar’s absence is a spot of bother for the sponsors as people tuned in to see Babar in action.
"We need to understand he sells cricket for Pakistan and there is always this debate happening in Pakistan on whether it's going to be another failure for Babar Azam or whether he is going to make a comeback and that keeps things interesting. Right now, I don't see any sellable comodity in this Pakistan team. The sponsors are little wary as well because Pakistan have been on a losing sequence and there are no real superstars playing in this Test match," he stated.
Who replaced Babar?
In Babar’s absence, Kamran Ghulam made his Test debut in Multan and survived the first session on a spinner-friendly Multan track. He walked in to bat after Abdullah Shafique and captain Shan Masood fell to left-arm spinner Jack Leach. Masood won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch that already has enough cracks and marks on it. It is the same pitch used in the first Test but its nature altered exponentially by taking off the grass and drying it.
Pakistan XI for second Test –
Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood
