Pakistan have decided to rip up their plans during an already chaotic tour of England by announcing that seven players and the head coach, Sarfaraz Ahmed, have been sent home before the third Test at Edgbaston next week.
Already confirmed to lose the series after going 2-0 down with a 194-run defeat at Lord’s on Sunday, Pakistan have now asked Mike Hesson, the New Zealander who runs their white-ball teams, to replace Sarfaraz as head coach. Umar Gul, their bowling coach, has also been swapped out for the Australian Ashley Noffke.
No less drastic is the jettisoning of nearly half their squad, including five players who have featured in the series. Of the seven players now being flown over for the series finale in Birmingham that starts on 9 September, five are uncapped, the batters Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal being the only two with Test experience.
Among the discarded players is Salman Ali Agha, who captained the team in the first Test while Babar Azam was injured, only to then be dropped at Lord’s. The opener Imam-ul-Haq, the subject of widespread criticism for not batting in either innings of the second Test because of a low-grade calf strain, has also been sent back to Pakistan.
Mohammad Rizwan, their longstanding wicketkeeper, is another to be banished following a string of low scores, likewise the spinner Ali Usman, who claimed a five-wicket haul in Leeds, and the seamer Khurram Shahzad. Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Zafar, both of whom were still to feature on this tour, will also be joining them on the flight home.
*Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Fazal*, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas*, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Imran*, Mohammad Imran Jnr*, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Razaullah*, Saad Baig (wk)*, Saim Ayub*, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Ubaid Shah
*new additions to the squad
It continues a messy trip by Pakistan during which the touring side have failed to pass 200 in any of their four innings with the bat. Their fielding has similarly been abject at times, while the 36-year-old Mohammad Abbas, who claimed nine wickets at Lord’s, has practically been a one-man attack in seamer-friendly conditions.
Things have been no better thought through off the field either, with the Pakistan Cricket Board lodging a complaint with the broadcasters Sky Sports during the second Test after an interview with Imran Khan’s sons – one that highlighted the former Pakistan prime minister’s ongoing health issues in prison – was aired. In doing so, the PCB succeeded in bringing far more attention to the matter.
