PAK vs ENG: Multan curator advised to prepare spin-friendly track

Pakistan are poised to make a strong comeback in the remaining two Test matches against England. After a humiliating defeat of an innings and 47 runs in the first game, the Shan Masood-led side faced immense criticism, as both their batting and bowling units flopped in the game. They were whitewashed by Australia and Bangladesh earlier in the year and nothing seems to be going in Pakistan’s favour as far as Test cricket is concerned.

With the hope of changing that, Multan pitch curator Tony Hemming has been advised to make a spin-friendly track, which will assist the spinners from Day 1. England batted long in the first game, which pushed Pakistan out of the contest and that is one area that the team management wants to address. It is believed that the England players may struggle against the Pakistan spinners and for the same reason, such a decision has been taken.

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Keeping that in mind, pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have been dropped from the squad for the remaining two games. They have been match-winners for Pakistan in limited-overs cricket but when it comes to red-ball, the duo has struggled and for the same reason, the team management is open to look beyond them.

Babar Azam dropped from Test squad

Babar Azam, who was considered to be Pakistan’s best batter in all three formats of the game, has been dropped from Test cricket. The star batter was struggling big time in red-ball cricket and hasn’t scored a single half-century in Test cricket for 20 months. He was getting close to being dropped but there were doubts if the team management would bench one of their best batters in history.

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However, the decision has been made and Babar has been dropped. According to Cricbuzz, the psychological aspect was considered for dropping him as it is believed that it would be good for the former captain to stay away from the national team for a while.