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Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam has spelt out how little say he has in squad selection decisions, just as a new home series begins against Sri Lanka on November 9 in Rawalpindi.
Previously, during the England tour this summer, when Pakistan lost the first two Tests, on the eve of the third Test at Edgbaston, the PCB ordered a sweeping change in which seven players were sent home, and two members of the coaching staff were removed.
Those affected included senior names such as Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq, as well as all-rounder Aamir Jamal and young batter Awais Zafar, who returned without playing a match. Reports said that the players learned about it through social media and press releases, with no direct word from the captain, head coach or PCB officials beforehand.
Former captain and national selector Misbah-ul-Haq reportedly resigned from the selection committee in protest, after confirming that nobody had consulted him about the seven recalled players.
Babar was asked before the Edgbaston Test whether he had been told about the changes, and he said that he had not.
“No, it was news for me too. I also came to know about this later. But as I said earlier, the PCB made this decision. I think they will explain it better,” he said.
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Before facing Sri Lanka, a journalist asked why Abdullah Fazal, who had been the first-choice opener in the West Indies, had now been left out, and spinner Sajid Khan had also been omitted.
Babar began his reply by accepting that it was a fair question and then pointed to what had happened in England.
“Ever since we returned from England, the scenario that unfolded has been right in front of you,” he said.
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He went on to describe how the squad for the new series was put together and where his own duties begin.
“When we sat down for this squad, the 15 players selected and provided to me by the selectors and the coach; my job is to field the playing XI from that group, get performances out of them, and have them fight out on the field. As for the rest, that is not in my hands," he told the media.
The captain then drew a clear line between the squad and the match-day team, and explained that he did not wish to go through every detail in public.
“Selection is their job; that’s their domain,” Babar said. “Where my responsibility is, I’ll state it. Wherever I have a say, I certainly provide my input. Ultimately, the selectors, the coach, and I sit together to discuss, and we do whatever is best possible.”
Babar Azam talks about the selection of the players. VC: PCB #PAKvSL | #Cricket | #Pakistan | #BabarAzam | #Rawalpindi https://t.co/CMXN5Qc1Ty
Babar’s reply was careful and, on the face of it, fair, because a captain who is handed 15 players can only pick from them. However, it throws light on how the captain is kept afar from team selections.
Pakistan had a bruising England tour in which the players were left to read about their own removal online, and the person who leads the team on the field was also in the dark.
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That points to a bigger problem than any single selection. If the captain does not know about decisions as large as a seven-player overhaul, and a selector like Misbah says he was not asked either, then it is not clear who is responsible when things go wrong.
The line “selection is their job” is true, but it also shows how far the captain stands from the choices that define his side.
For Babar, the best response is on the field. A captain who delivers runs and wins in Rawalpindi will find it easier to argue for a greater role in the next selection meeting. The PCB, meanwhile, needs to explain its process openly so that players hear about their futures from the board, not from their phones.
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Soham Mukherjee is a content producer and writer, with a focus on cricket, football, tennis and Indian sports. His work has appeared in Goal.com previously, where he has covered the Premier League, La Liga, Champions League, FIFA World Cups and Indian football. Armed with an MA (Master's) in Sports Journalism from Symbiosis International University, he knew early on that his future wouldn’t be on the pitch but behind the pen, shaping narratives about the games he adores.
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