Babar to miss first England Test, Pakistan name new captain

Babar Azam has been ruled out of the first Test against England after sustaining an injury during a warm-up match in Beckenham. He had captained the side during their recent tour of the West Indies.

In his stead, Salman Agha has been named as the captain for the ICC World Test Championship series opener in Leeds.

While disappointed to lose Babar to injury, Sarfaraz is confident that Salman can lead the side well and believes the team is well placed to match it with England.

“Our practice match went really good. We covered all our bases in terms of preparation as a bowling and batting unit both and also won that warm-up game. The spirits are quite high and I have a belief in the whole team that we will do well here," Sarfaraz said.

“As team management, we are confident regarding Salman leading Pakistan in this Test match. He is one of those players who start feeling confident after getting the leadership. As for Babar, it is quite unfortunate that he was hit on (the) hand. Hopefully, he will be back for the second match.”

Pakistan are currently on tour of England for a three-Test series. The visitors are currently eighth in the WTC standings, and arrive  on the back of a 1-1 series draw against the West Indies.

After six outings in the ongoing cycle, Pakistan have won two Tests and lost four, and have a 22.22 PCT.

England, on the other hand, are seventh in the standings and have won only four of the 13 Tests they have played in this cycle.

The hosts were last in action during the home series against New Zealand, which the visitors sealed 2-1. 

Pakistan Test squad: Babar Azam (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Ubaid Shah 

Series schedule

First Test: August 19–23, Headingley
Second Test: August 27–31, Lord's
Third Test: September 9–13, Edgbaston