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Babar Azam Snubbed, Shan Masood To Lose His Captaincy? Pakistan’s Probable Squad For England Series

Babar Azam and Shan Masood [X]Babar Azam and Shan Masood [X]

Pakistan cricket has been experiencing one of its worst lows recently. They recently lost the second and final Test of their home series against Bangladesh. As a result, they were clean-sweeped in their own backyard. Many things, including selection, player mentality, and proper execution on the field, seemed to have gone wrong for the unit. 

Looking at Pakistan cricket's history and its instability, it will not be surprising to see some drastic changes in the team ahead of the next series. As far as their next assignment is concerned, Pakistan will be up against England in a three-match home Test series in October. So, they have about one month of time to make some probable changes, mend their holes, and get their players switched on. The management would be desperate to get some results in their favour and climb up the ladder in the WTC points table. 

Will Shan Masood be sacked?

It has not been long since Babar Azam was sacked as Pakistan's red-ball captain, and responsibilities were handed over to Shan Masood. However, one might point out that under Masood, Pakistan have played five Tests and have lost four of them while drawing a single game. This personnel change has not worked out for Pakistan at all. However, some pundits might think that Masood must be allowed more time to work out team compositions and get the best out of the players. 

However, in these five matches, Shan Masood has looked a bit out of place as captain, and even if the management does not sack him now, the England series could be his last assignment in the role if his team does not improve. 

Possible Changes in the team

One of Pakistan's biggest concerns has been the form of their premier batter, Babar Azam. He has not passed the 50 mark in Test cricket for 16 innings now. If we look at his last 15 innings, he has scored 317 runs at an average of just 21. Considered one of the best in the world and the mainstay of the Pakistan batting, this woeful run of Babar is really costing the team. However, given his talent and how he has served Pakistan so far, the drastic measure of dropping him might not come yet. 

Abdullah Shafique has suffered from lack of batting form recently [X]Abdullah Shafique has suffered from lack of batting form recently [X]

Besides Babar Azam, Abdullah Shafique is another batter who has not been in the best of forms. In the last ten Test innngs he has managed just a single 50+ score. There is a chance that Pakistan might drop its current test opener. If Pakistan indeed drop Babar or Shafique, then batters like Kamram Ghulam or Mohammad Huraira might get a go. 

Regarding the bowling department, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah will be back for the series, and they are expected to be selected this time. Khurram Shahzad was one of the rare positives for Pakistan from the Bangladesh series, and it will be a close fight between the three to get a spot in the final playing XI. One might hope that during the England series, there will be more sanity, and the Pakistan think tank will find the balance between pace and spin. 

Pakistan's Predicted Squad For England Test Series

Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Kamran Ghulam, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Amar Jamal, Mir Hamza