Former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed has come out in strong support of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for sending seven players to England for the third and final Test against England in Birmingham.
On Monday, August 31, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released seven players after suffering a Test series defeat to England away from home. PCB also axed the Test head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul with immediate effect.
“Your best batsman in the team is Babar Azam. You made him the captain on that basis. And after that, when your team starts giving such performances, if we don’t bring any change in it, then there is a problem that they keep playing the same and don’t give performances,” Aaqib Javed told the local news channel.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad have been asked to return home. Saim Ayub, Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran and Razaullah have been added to the updated Pakistan Test squad.
“Two Test matches have come and gone, and the team has not competed in any way. Now that you have lost the series, you have lost both Test matches, so there is no harm in changing your mindset in the third Test match so that you can show the world that we still have talent,” he added.
“Someone had to take action. The world is laughing at us because we can’t even compete. The message we’re sending to the recalled players is that you have to raise your game on important tours and compete, and we should be able to see some effort,” he concluded.
Pakistan’s updated Test squad for the third Test vs England: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Fazal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Imran, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicket-keeper), Razaullah, Saad Baig (wk), Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah
