Pakistan‘s win over England in the second Test at Multan seems to have brought delight and criticism in equal measure — delight for ending a losing run in Tests and criticism of former skipper Babar Azam and the alleged favouritism that prevailed under his reign.
Out-of-form Babar was dropped from the Test squad by Pakistan Cricket Board’s new selection panel headed by former pacer Aaqib Javed after the team’s defeat in the first Test.Along with Babar, fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi & Naseem Shah and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed were also left out.
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The move, selection of debutant Kamran Ghulam, who went on to score a centry, and the performance of the spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan helped Pakistan turn the tables on the visitors with a 152-run win inside four days.
Noman and Sajid took all 20 England wickets to fall in the match. While Noman finished with 11 wickets in the match, Sajid claimed nine. However, the win provided fresh fodder to Babar critics, which annoyed veteran pacer Mohammad Amir.
“Yar pls yeah ghatia soch khatam karo k babar team me ni tha ya woh player ni tha to team jeet gayi (please end these petty talks that the team won because Babar or other players were not in the team),” Amir wote in a post on ‘X’.
“Hum better planning k sath khaile home advantage liya or jeet gaye (we played with better planning, took the home advantage and won),” he added. “Pls personal na hn apne players k sath yes performance base ap bat karen but pls personal na hn (you can talk based on performance but please don’t get personal with players).”
The three-match series is now level at 1-1 and will move to Rawalpindi, where the third and deciding Test begins on October 24.
