Babar Azam proved his fitness… scored truckloads of runs: Salman Butt

New Delhi [India], August 17 (ANI): Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt heaped praise on Babar Azam and said that the right-handed batter has proved his fitness and scored truckloads of runs in the past two years.

Pakistan’s stalwart batter Babar Azam is set to play at the number four spot in their upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, sources informed Geo News on Thursday.

The sources told Geo News that Abdullah Shafiq’s position in the team as an opener is “not under threat,” and captain Shan Masood will bat at the number three.

Speaking on his official YouTube channel, Butt said: “Babar Azam scored truckloads of runs in the last 2 years, he proved his fitness, he ran on the field, and scored runs while batting first as well as second innings. Things should go up but they are getting broken in the middle, which is wrong. So, this is the responsibility of the players to maintain their fitness.”

He added that the whole nation started to criticize the fitness of the Pakistan cricket team after their poor performance at the T20 World Cup 2024.

“Entire Pakistan is talking about the fitness of the team and it brought a storm in Pakistan, players at the junior level were asked to run. This came after people said players weren’t fit in the T20 World Cup 2024. No one questioned the physios or trainers, but instead, they started making players at the district level push hard for fitness. Those who made errors are still there,” he added.

The two-match Test series will kick off on August 21 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The two Tests against Bangladesh will mark the first assignment of Jason Gillespie as Pakistan’s Test coach.

The second Test of the two-match series is set to be played from August 30 to September 3 in Karachi.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Wednesday that spectators will not be allowed during the second Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh due to ongoing renovations at Karachi’s National Stadium.

Pakistan squad for Test series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Bangladesh squad for Test series: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mahmudullah, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan. Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed.