Pakistan look set to have captain Babar Azam back for the Lord’s Test starting August 27, after the finger injury he picked up on the West Indies tour flared up again during a Beckenham net session and kept him out of the series opener against England.
Coach Umar Gul said the captain put in a full session at Home of Cricket on Tuesday against quicks, spinners and throwdowns, and sounded confident about his availability heading into the match.
Babar led the run charts on the West Indies trip with 193 runs, and his return would give Pakistan a lift after an innings-and-103-run defeat in the opening Headingley Test.
He recently returned as skipper for his second stint after the Pakistan Cricket Board sacked Shan Masood, following disappointing results in the longest format of the game.
The sub-continent team lost the first Test against the Windies but returned to winning ways in the second contest to finish the series on equal terms.
His absence was felt against Joe Root’s side in the first assignment of a three-Test bilateral tour. Salman Ali Agha, who replaced Babar in Leeds, was found wanting as a batter and skipper.
The visitors were mediocre across departments, with the match finishing in less than three days, leading to another embarrassment for Agha’s team. The team management expects positive intent from the players when they take the field for the second time. For Babar, it is another chance to show his leadership skills under difficult circumstances.
On the other hand, England are confident and would look to wrap up the series at Lord’s. Root is also back at the helm of affairs after Ben Stokes’ retirement from international cricket, following a nightclub controversy.
Brendon McCullum also left the post of Test head coach after considering the poor results, with a 2-1 defeat against New Zealand proving to be the last nail in the coffin of the Bazball approach.