Babar Azam Ruled Out of Headingley Test With Hand Injury

Babar Azam will miss Pakistan’s first Test against England at Headingley after failing to recover from a hand injury.

He was hurt in the warm-up match at Beckenham, struck by England Under-19 seamer Manny Lumsden, and retired hurt without returning to the field. The same hand had been hit during the second Test against the West Indies earlier this month. In that series Babar rediscovered his form, making 88 in the first Test and 24 not out in the second, which took him back into the ICC Test batting top 10.

He tried batting in the nets at Headingley on Monday, August 18, but was not cleared to play. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed confirmed that Babar is unavailable and that Salman Agha will captain the side.

Salman Agha steps in

Salman Ali Agha will lead Pakistan in a Test for the first time. He made his Test debut in 2022, has played 27 Tests, and is a middle-order batter and off-spinner. He had already captained the team in the Beckenham warm-up after Babar went off.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha (c), Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Abbas.

England: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root (c), Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith (wk), Ollie Robinson, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.

The three-Test series begins a new World Test Championship cycle for both teams, with Pakistan starting without their regular captain.