The Pakistan cricket team dropped a bombshell while revealing that star batter Babar Azam has been dropped from the squad for the second and third Test of the three-match Test series against England following the hosts' embarrassing defeat in the series opener by an innings and 47 runs.

This was Pakistan's 6th loss in a row in Test cricket, while they have now gone 11 matches without winning a red-ball match at home. As the Shan Masood team struggle to turn their fortunes around, a revamped selection committee took a big call and left out Babar from the squad alongside star pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.

Babar's form in Test cricket has been a cause of great concern, as he has not scored a half-century for almost two years. The former Pakistan skipper has gone 18 innings without reaching the 50-run mark in the longest format. Since the star of 2023, the 29-year-old has played nine tests, scored 352 runs at an average of 20.70 with a highest score of 41.

Since the announcement from the PCB of Babar Azam being left out, opinions are divided among the cricket fraternity on the decision. A huge section of Pakistan fans have been left disappointed at their star batter not getting a lone rope. Amid the heated debates on social media, an old video of Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar naming Babar among his all-time favourite players players has gone viral. In the clip captured by a fan earlier this year, Gavaskar named Zaheer Abbas, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, and Babar as his favourite players on being asked by a Pakistan supporter.

Babar has a modest record in Test cricket in his career with 3997 runs in 55 innings with nine centuries at an average of 43.92. The 29-year-old is likely to make a comeback to the national side for the white-ball tours to Australia and Zimbabwe. It remains to be seen if he is recalled to the Test team for the away series against South Africa.

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