Babar Azam dropped from Pakistan Test squad for 2nd and 3rd match against England

The Pakistan Cricket Board took a bold step to remove Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi and Sarfaraz Ahmed from the Test squad. For the upcoming matches against England, PCB announced the Pakistan squad, where they added some new faces and excluded the known personalities from the team, considering their performance in the previous games. With a fine pitch where players scored heaps of runs, Babar failed to perform in both innings which is the main reason behind his exclusion from the team.

While Babar's removal was anticipated, Naseem and Shaheen weren't expected. The exclusion of star players from the Test squad for two matches is a strong and bold move that will invite a lot of criticism in the future. But, the players didn't play well in most of the matches. While the 1st Test match was a comeback game for Shaheen, he didn't do justice to the chance given to him. 

Pakistan squad for 2nd and 3rd Test: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood.

Pakistan's terrible performance against England in 1st Test match

In the 1st Test match, Pakistan scored 556 runs in the first innings and considered their job done. The bowlers were lazy and didn't bowl the correct line and length to dismiss England. Due to their lack of focus, Harry Brook and Joe Root put up a 400-run partnership in the first innings and went on to score 800+ runs. Pakistan lost the game by an innings and 47 runs, which was embarrassing and disappointing at the same time. 

Moreover, Brook hit a triple-century while Root scored a double-century. England's bowlers did a good job in the second innings, where they dismantled Pakistan's batting attack and didn't allow them to take a lead. There are two more matches left in the series, and the hosts will try to make a comeback since the team has been changed partially.