Former Pakistan batter suggests resting Babar Azam for second West Indies Test

Former cricketer Basit Ali has advised the Pakistan team management to rest their star batter, Babar Azam, for the second Test against the West Indies to help preserve his confidence.

Babar returned with forgettable scores of 8 and 5 in the first Test against West Indies, which Pakistan won by 127 runs on a spin-friendly pitch at Multan Stadium.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali stated that playing on such pitches will diminish Babar’s confidence ahead of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

“Pakistan is damaging Babar’s confidence when he has just regained his rhythm. Since Pakistan won’t qualify for the WTC final, it would be wise to rest Babar,” said Basit.

“If you want to keep him in the Playing XI, prepare better pitches.

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“Babar struggled in the first Test [against West Indies], but he found his form in South Africa [earlier this month], scoring runs in both ODIs and Tests.”

For the unversed, Babar was dropped from the Test team owing to his bad form after the first match of the home series against England last year.

However, he returned to the team during the two-match Test series against South Africa and scored 193 runs at an average of 48.25, including three half-centuries.

Notably, the second Test between Pakistan and West Indies will be played at the same venue from January 25-29.

Pakistan squad for the West Indies Tests

Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wk), Sajid Khan, and Salman Ali Agha.

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