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Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has supported the selection commitee's decision to give a break to Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. The trio has been rested from the remainder of the Test series against England at home after a historic loss by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test at Multan Cricket Stadium.
"Supporting the selectors’ decision to give Babar, Shaheen, and Naseem a break from international cricket. This move not only helps protect and extend the careers of these champion players but also gives a great opportunity to test and groom emerging talent, building strong bench strength for the future," posted Shahid on his X handle.
Mahmood's clarification on trio's names missing from Test squad
While it was assumed that the trio was dropped from the Test squad after their lacklustre performance in the first Test at Multan Cricket Stadium, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood said that they have been rested considering the busy international schedule ahead. He also called Babar the team’s no.1 player.
"Babar is our No.1 player. There is no question about that. His technique and ability. If you look at Pakistan's FTP, there's a lot of cricket coming up. So, because of that, the selection committee decided that this was the best time to give Babar a rest. After that, we have to go to Australia and Zimbabwe and there is a South Africa tour as well. So that's important," Mahmood said in the pre-match press conference.
Mahmood said that they bolstered the squad to suit the pitch conditions. Also, Naseem was struggling with niggles and the decision to rest him was taken by the new management.
"If you look at the fast bowling, this was the third test under new management. Before that we were also struggling as we wanted to know how to get 20 wickets. So now we think we have more options with spin. There were also a few niggles. Naseem had a few niggles and Shaheen was playing a lot of cricket. So we decided to rest him," added the former all-rounder.
While Babar has not scored a fifty in nine Tests, Pakistan have not won a Test at home in last 11 attempts.
