Tue Oct 15 10:50:00 UTC 2024: ## Pakistan Struggles in Second Test Against England, Babar Azam Dropped

**Multan, Pakistan:** The second Test match between Pakistan and England got underway in Multan on Tuesday with Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bat first. However, the home team’s start was far from ideal.

By lunch, Pakistan had lost two wickets for 79 runs with Saim Ayub and Kamran Ghulam remaining unbeaten. This comes after a humiliating defeat in the first Test where England won by an innings and 47 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Adding to Pakistan’s woes, former captain Babar Azam has been dropped for the second and third Tests. His poor performance in the first Test, scoring only 35 runs across both innings, led to his exclusion along with fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.

Pakistan’s performance in the first Test was historic in a negative way. They became the first team in Test cricket history to lose a match after scoring over 500 runs in their first innings. This occurred after England amassed a mammoth 823 runs in reply, with Harry Brook scoring a triple century and Joe Root a double century.

The third Test is scheduled to begin in Rawalpindi on October 24.

**Playing XIs:**

**Pakistan:** Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.

**England:** Ben Stokes (c), Jack Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

Read More