Pakistan Cricket seems to be in shambles and the rate of controversies flowing out of the setup does not seem to be slowing down. After the defeat at Lord’s, sacking of coaches, a semi-overhaul of the Test squad, one dropped player refused to attend the meeting with King Charles.
As per a report by the Telegraph, the seven players dropped from the squad were instructed to attend the meeting. The seven players dropped were Salman Agha, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Awais Zafar, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad and Ali Usman. Rizwan and Imam had flew back home. While Imam faces inquiry for not batting in either innings of Lord's Test, reports suggest that Rizwan's dressing room behaviour is under the scanner well. Amongst the dropped player, Zafar, Jamal, Shahzad and Usman attended the meeting.
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King Charles spoke to Babar Azam-led Pakistan team. Babar presented the King with a bat with signatures of players. The royal meeting took place days after Pakistan made wholesale changes to their squad and staff. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi also met King Charles and described the meeting as "very productive" upon returning to Pakistan.
Pakistan players will have plenty of time to recuperate and also welcome five uncapped players — Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah – along with recalled players Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal.
Pakistan targetting moral victory
Pakistan have already lost the three-Test series. They will play for pride in the third Test which is scheduled to begin on September 9 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. If Pakistan manage to beat the Joe Root-led side, it will be a moral victory for them. It will also help them move from the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 points table and take the eighth place which is currently occupied by West Indies. However, Pakistan have never won a Test at Edgbaston. They have managed to draw three Tests out of eight since 1962.
Pakistan’s updated squad for third Test vs England
Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Imran, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Razaullah, Saad Baig (wk), Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah.