LEEDS, Aug 18 (Alliance News): Pakistan captain and star batter Babar Azam will miss the opening Test of the three-match away series against England, which begins on Wednesday in Leeds, head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed confirmed on Tuesday.
Salman Ali Agha will lead the national side in the first Test in Babar’s absence, the Pakistan coach said.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Sarfaraz said Babar was being assessed by the medical team and was currently experiencing pain from a finger injury.
“He is feeling pain, and the medical team is assessing him. Hopefully, he will be available for the second Test,” Sarfaraz said.
Babar suffers finger injury
Babar sustained the injury during Pakistan’s three-day practice match against the Professional County Club (PCC) Select XI in Beckenham last week.
The incident occurred on the final delivery of the 39th over when pacer Manny Lumsden bowled a sharp delivery that struck Babar on the finger.
The Pakistan captain immediately appeared to be in pain, dropped his bat and received treatment from medical staff before walking off the field.
He had scored five runs from 17 deliveries at the time of the injury.
The blow marked the second time in a month that Babar had been struck on the hand, following a similar incident during Pakistan’s Test series against the West Indies.
Babar advised to miss remainder of practice game
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) later said its medical team had advised Babar, as a precautionary measure, to miss the remainder of the practice match ahead of the England series.
Sarfaraz said the team was hopeful that the star batter would recover in time for the second Test at Lord’s.
The series marks Pakistan’s first Test tour of England since 2020.
Pakistan-England Test series schedule
The opening Test will be played at Headingley in Leeds from August 19 to 23.
The second Test is scheduled at Lord’s Cricket Ground from August 27 to 31, while the third and final Test will take place at Edgbaston in Birmingham from September 9 to 13.
Pakistan will look to make a strong start to the series despite the absence of their regular captain in the opening fixture.
Pakistan squad for England Test series
Babar Azam (c), Aamir Jamal, Ali Usman, Abdullah Shafique, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel (subject to fitness), Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah.
