Former England captain, Michael Vaughan took to Twitter and expressed his shock after Babar Azam was excluded from Pakistan's squad for the second and third Test against England following his poor form in the red-ball format.
Babar, who has been struggling for a long time now hasn't added any Test fifty to his name since December 2022. His poor form also coincided with Pakistan's winless run in Test series which has lasted for over 1000 days now.
Why did Michael Vaughan say it was 'stupid' to exclude Babar Azam from the Pakistan squad?
According to Vaughan's recent tweet, it was a stupid decision from the PCB to drop Babar Azam ahead of two crucial Tests after such a heavy defeat for the home side.
"So Pakistan hasn’t won in a while .. Go 1 nil down in the series and decide to drop the best player in @babarazam258... I guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises but this tops the lot .. absolutely stupid decision .. unless he has asked for a break!!!," wrote Vaughan.
So Pakistan haven’t won in a while .. Go 1 nil down in the series and decide to drop the best player in @babarazam258 .. I guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises but this tops the lot .. absolutely stupid decision .. unless he has asked for a break !!!
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 13, 2024
Since the start of 2023, Azam has played 9 Tests and only averaged close to 21 with a high score of 41 while Pakistan has just managed to win two of those Tests. He was replaced by Shan Masood as the captain in Australia in 2023 and they are 6 games without a win, hence, the PCB is looking at an overhaul of the squad.
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