Pakistan are hopeful he will be available for the home series against South Africa
Pakistan’s regular Test captain Babar Azam has been ruled out of the second Test in Christchurch starting Sunday. Mohammad Rizwan will lead Pakistan again, like he did in the first Test. Azam had a “full-fledged” training session in Christchurch on Friday but he felt slight pain in his thumb which he had fractured earlier on the tour. The team management decided against taking any risk and ruled him out of the second Test.
“We have seen improvement in Babar Azam’s injury but he is yet to fully recover,” team doctor Sohail Saleem said. “He is our captain and the most important batsman in the line-up, so we do not want to take any risk.
“The medical team is constantly reviewing his injury and we are hopeful he will be available for the home series against South Africa.”
More to follow…