An already extraordinary Test series continues to surprise, even when no cricket is being played. If in the circumstances it was predictable that Pakistan might choose to shake up their team, the decision to drop their most famous and experienced player, the former captain Babar Azam, as well as their two premier seamers, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, for both remaining matches against England comes as a profound shock. Sarfaraz Ahmed, another former captain, who did not play in the first game, has also been released.
Since England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs on Friday afternoon, the Pakistan Cricket Board has rebooted its selection panel and the team. The new‑look panel met in Lahore on Friday and again in Multan on Saturday, this time with Jason Gillespie, the team’s coach, and the captain, Shan Masood, whose position is also under threat.
Officially, the players are rested, with Babar in particular being given a break to clear his head and regain form – he has averaged just 20.70 in his past 17 innings dating back to the start of 2023, a wretched run for a player of such class. “We are confident this break will help these players regain their fitness, confidence and composure,” said Aqib Javed, a member of the selection committee. “They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistani cricket.”
The moves add to the sense of chaos and crisis that has come to surround the Pakistan team and this series in particular. The final schedule for England’s tour was not announced until late September, only 17 days before play got under way, when organisers finally gave up on the possibility of reconstruction work at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, the planned venue for the second Test, being completed in time and moved that game to Multan.
It is seen as increasingly likely that even this schedule will not hold: Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party led by the imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, has called for a “massive protest” in Islamabad on Tuesday, and ongoing instability in the capital could force the third Test, due to start in nearby Rawalpindi on 24 October, to be moved. In recent weeks dozens of leading figures in the PTI, including Imran’s sisters, have been arrested, and social media and mobile phone networks sporadically suspended, as the government cracks down on dissent.
With the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore also a building site, the result would be a third game in Multan. Government representatives are reported to have met Imran and asked him to delay future protests until after the third Test is finished, and a decision from the PCB is expected by Wednesday.
At present it looks like not only is there just one usable Test ground in the country but also just one usable pitch on that ground. Even given the instability surrounding the Pakistan team, it seems unlikely that the decision to play the second Test on the pitch used in the first will be reversed, though Gillespie, and the Australian head groundskeeper, Tony Hemming, were seen in lengthy discussion during Sunday’s training session, and there are alternative surfaces in various stages of readiness on either side of it.
The PCB has requested something that will take spin from the start, which thanks to the pre-existing footmarks this one should, and plan to pick at least one extra spinner to profit from it, as well as replacing Abrar Ahmed, who remains in hospital with dengue fever.
England will see much of this as an unwelcome distraction. On Sunday most of their players were preoccupied with more welcome ones, with only one of those involved in the opening Test, Shoaib Bashir, and the four who were not, Jordan Cox, Matt Potts, Ben Stokes and Rehan Ahmed, attending the optional training session at the ground.
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As with their first session after arriving in the city, Stokes was the focus of attention. But where last week his evident lack of fitness was a cause for concern, this time his performance was only encouraging. “He looks great,” Jimmy Anderson said. “He’s had a good bowl and looks good to go.” The question is who he would replace. Given the state of the pitch, England are unlikely to pick fewer than two specialist spinners, leaving Chris Woakes as the most likely to drop out. They are expected to name a team on Monday.
Brydon Carse, who took two wickets in each innings last week on debut, was singled out by Anderson for particular praise. “He was outstanding,” England’s all-time leading wicket-taker and current coaching consultant said. “We’ve always known what he could deliver. To bowl 90mph in that heat pretty consistently was an amazing effort. He was accurate, he bowled good short stuff when we needed him to do that, and he bowls wicket-taking balls, and that’s what we’re after as a bowling group.”
While Pakistan flail around in search of ways to shift momentum, England are hoping simply to surf theirs. “Any time you concede 550 and win a game with two sessions to spare it cannot help but give everyone confidence,” Anderson said. “A lot of the time, when I’ve been involved in teams and we’ve conceded 550, the thought of the best way to win is to go past them – you say it but actually believing it is a different thing. I do think there is that belief in this dressing room that we can win a game from any position. Obviously there’s believing it and doing it, but when it happens it gives you so much confidence.”