Ben Stokes reacts to Babar Azam's exclusion from Pakistan test squad

England captain Ben Stokes has addressed star batter Babar Azam’s exclusion from the Pakistan Test squad ahead of the second PAK v ENG Test.

On Sunday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) left out the right-handed batter from the second Test squad after a dip in his form, where he failed to score a big inning in his last 18 Test innings.

Additionally, the PCB Selection Committee also decided to give rest to Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi, while Abrar Ahmed is recovering from dengue fever.

It is to be noted that it is the first time Babar Azam has been dropped from the Pakistan team since his white-ball debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015 and Test baptism against the West Indies a year later.

When asked about the decision to rest the star Pakistan batter, England captain Ben Stokes came up with a blunt statement during a press conference.

“Everything on that, that’s Pakistan cricket issue. Nothing to do with me,” the England skipper said.

Earlier, former England cricket team captain Michael Vaughan slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board for dropping Babar Azam from the squad for the remaining PAK v ENG Tests.

In a post on X, Vaughan called it an “absolutely stupid decision” to remove the team’s best player after losing just one match in the series.

“Pakistan haven’t won in a while, go 1-0 down in the series and decide to drop their best player in Babar Azam. I guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises, but this tops the lot… absolutely stupid decision, unless he has asked for a break!!!” he wrote in the post.

It is noteworthy here that the former Pakistan captain is the number one ODI batsman while he is ranked fourth among Twenty20 batsmen.

However, his form in the long format has suffered the most and his slump has seen him fall outside the world’s top 10.