Very confident that Babar Azam will get back to peak form in all three formats: Pakistan Test coach Jason Gillespie

Pakistan's head coach in Test cricket, Jason Gillespie, reckoned that Babar Azam will return to his best and score a lot of runs in all three formats of the game. The former Pakistan captain was dropped from the side ahead of the second Test against England in Multan after failing to score a half-century in the format for as many as 18 innings. In the first Test, he registered scores of 30 and 5 on a Multan pitch where 1379 runs were scored in the first two innings.

Kamran Ghulam replaced Babar at No. 4 and slammed a solid century under pressure in the second Test. However, Gillespie hailed the 30-year-old as one of the best batters in world cricket asserted that he has an important role to play for the team.

Also Read: 'I’m not a selector' - Jason Gillespie opens up on new role as 'match-day strategist'

"Well again, I. I cannot answer that because I'm not a selector. But what I will say is that Babar is a fine player. I think he's one of the best players in the world. And, yeah, he had a bit of a lean, lean patch, but I don't think, but I don't think many great players around the world have never had a lean patch," Jason Gillespie told Sky Sports Cricket.

"I'm very confident. Babar Will will be back scoring a lot of runs for Pakistan in all formats. He's just too good a player. He works really, really hard in his game. He's very precise with his preparation and what he needs to do to get ready. I fully expect him to have a huge role, going forward in the next little while for Pakistan," he added.

England reach 242/8 at Tea on Day 1 of third Test

The three-match Test series between England and Pakistan is tied at 1-1. The decisive third Test commenced on Thursday, October 24, at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. England won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch which is expected to provide more and more assistance for the spinners as the game goes along.

Also Read: 'Predictor showed only 2-3% chance' - Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav recall India's miraculous 2022 T20 World Cup triumph over Pakistan

On the back of Jamie Smith's 89 and Ben Duckett's 52, the Three Lions got to 242/8 at Tea break on Day 1. Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, who took all 20 English wickets in the second Test, have been the stars with the ball for Pakistan once again. Sajid bagged four wickets, while Noman contributed for three of them. Meanwhile, leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood bagged the solitary wicket of Smith.