LEEDS: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been ruled out of the first Test of the three-match away series against England, scheduled to be played here at Headingley from August 19 to 23.
The development was confirmed by Pakistan head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, who also revealed all-rounder Salman Ali Agha would take the reins of the touring side in the series opener due to Babar’s absence.
“Pakistan captain Babar Azam is unavailable for the first Test match. Salman Agha will be the captain for the first Test,” Ahmed shared.
Meanwhile, for Babar, Ahmed shared that the 31-year-old was being assessed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) medical team as he was experiencing pain, but expressed his hope that the skipper will be available for the second Test, scheduled to be played at The Lord’s from August 27 to 31.
“The medical team is assessing Babar. He has quite a bit of pain in the finger. There are still a few days to go before the second Test. Hopefully, he will recover by then,” Ahmed revealed.
Babar, who captained Pakistan to their drought-ending victory in an away Test earlier this month, suffered a blow to his finger during the Green Shirts’ 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.
He immediately appeared to be in pain, dropped his bat and received attention from the medical staff before walking off the field after scoring five runs from 17 deliveries.
Notably, the blow marked the second time in a month Babar had been struck on the hand, following a similar incident during Pakistan’s Test series against the West Indies.
Later, the PCB shared that the star batter, as a precautionary measure, has been advised by its medical team to miss the remainder of the practice game.
