Babar Azam will begin his third term as captain on the tours of the West Indies and England later this month, as he replaced faltering Test captain Shan Masood on Sunday.
After replacing Azam in December 2023, Masood, 36, guided the team to 12 losses in 16 Test matches. In the most recent cycle of the World Test Championship, Pakistan placed ninth and last.
Following a 2-0 series loss in Bangladesh in May, they are once again ranked ninth in the current cycle.
“Azam will be our new Test captain as we feel that Masood could not lead as desired,” Pakistan selector Aaqib Javed was quoted as saying by AFP at a news conference to announce the squad on Sunday.
“The selection committee discussed who could be the best player to lead Pakistan and Azam is the best option,” said Javed.
Top-order batsman Azam, who resigned in November 2023 and October 2024, will be leading the team for the third time. The first of two Test matches between Pakistan and the West Indies will begin on July 25 in Tarouba, Trinidad. The second starts on August 2 in Port-of-Spain.
After that, Pakistan will travel to England to play Test matches at Headingley on August 19, Lord’s on August 27, and Edgbaston on September 9. After being included in the team that lost 0-2 in Bangladesh, fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali were left out.
Ubaid Shah, a 20-year-old uncapped fast bowler and Naseem’s younger brother who was left off the squad, was given a spot by selectors. The other three fast bowlers chosen were Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Abbas, and Khurram Shahzad.
For the first time, left-arm spinner Ali Usman and uncapped middle-order batsman Awais Zafar were included.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori, Sajid Khan, Salman Agha, Shan Masood, Ubaid Shah, Saud Shakeel (subject to fitness for England)
