The management and selection committee of Pakistan’s red-ball team sought former skipper Babar Azam to be part of the squad for the first Test against South Africa, scheduled to begin on December 26 at SuperSport Park, Centurion, according to sources.
However, it should be noted that the right-handed batsman has been absent from the Test squad since October this year due to his consistent poor form. After the first Test against England in Multan, he was not included in the team for the next two Tests.
Now, the team management has decided to include Babar, who is just three runs short of completing 4,000 runs in Test cricket, for the first Test against South Africa.
To make room for him, out-of-form opener Abdullah Shafique, who was dismissed for a duck in all three one-day internationals (ODIs) against South Africa, has been dropped from the Test squad. Instead, captain Shan Masood will open the innings alongside Saim Ayub, said the sources.
Shan, a left-handed opener with 38 Test caps, currently bats at number 3 in the Test team. However, opening the innings will not be a new experience for him, as he began his Test career as an opener.
Shan made his Test debut against South Africa in Abu Dhabi in October 2013, and has opened the innings in 46 of his 72 innings in Test cricket, scoring four centuries and five half-centuries as an opener.
On the other hand, Babar, who scored 148 runs with two half-centuries in three ODIs against South Africa, is making a comeback to Test cricket after being dropped from the team. This comes at a time when he is struggling to regain his form in the longer format.
Babar Azam has scored 3,997 runs in 55 Test matches at an average of 54.46, with nine centuries. However, since his 161-run innings against New Zealand at Karachi in December 2022, he has faced difficulties, managing only 366 runs in 18 innings without scoring a half-century.
His best score during this period was 41 runs in the second innings of the Melbourne Test against Australia in December 2023.