Pakistan is sweating over the availability of skipper Babar Azam for the second Test against England at Lord’s beginning on Thursday. A source close to the team said on Tuesday that Babar was suffering from a finger injury, and the swelling made it difficult for him to grip the bat properly. His injury worsened when he decided to bat a few overs in a three-day practice game against the Counties XI in Kent, where he retired after being hit again on the same finger.
Babar first got hit on the fingers while batting in the second Test against the West Indies before the tour to England.
The Pakistan team management is considering playing both their spinners, Ali Usman and Sajid Khan, in the Lord’s Test, as the feeling is the pitch will be sluggish and could assist the slow bowlers. Because of the injury, and Salman Ali Agha led the side, he missed the opening Test at Leeds, which Pakistan lost by an innings and 103 runs inside three days. Ali Usman took 5 for 98 with his left-arm spin in England’s only innings in the Leeds Test, while Sajid grabbed eight wickets when Pakistan beat West Indies to level the two-match series 1-1.
“The team management will see if Babar is comfortable batting in the nets tomorrow, but it is a sort of injury where the final decision must come from the player himself,” the source said.
