Pakistan pacer Mohammad Abbas on Monday said captain Babar Azam’s availability in the opening Test of the three-match away series against England is subject to clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) medical team.
Babar, who captained Pakistan to their drought-ending victory in an away Test earlier this month, suffered a blow to his finger during the Green Shirts’ three-day practice match against the Professional County Club (PCC) Select XI in Beckenham last week.
The incident occurred on the final delivery of the 39th over when pacer Manny Lumsden bowled a sharp delivery that struck Babar on the finger.
He immediately appeared to be in pain, dropped his bat and received attention from the medical staff before walking off the field after scoring five runs from 17 deliveries.
Notably, the blow marked the second time in a month Babar had been struck on the hand, following a similar incident during Pakistan’s Test series against the West Indies.
Later, the PCB shared that the star batter, as a precautionary measure, has been advised by its medical team to miss the remainder of the practice game, which precedes their three-match away series against England, slated to commence on August 19.
The cricket board had further shared that the Pakistan captain will partake in their practice session, scheduled to be held at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds on August 17.
Although the star batter was seen training with his national teammates at Headingley, his participation in the England series opener was still not confirmed, with the final decision expected to be taken by the PCB medical board on the match day, shared Abbas during a press conference at the aforementioned venue earlier today.
“Whether he plays or not will be a decision taken on match day,” said Abbas in response to a question regarding Babar’s fitness and availability for the first England Test.
“He did a few throwdowns and some batting practice today. But we’ll have to follow medical advice for it,” he added.