An England cricket fan posted a photo with Pakistan’s Babar Azam on X and claimed the two had a long chat about batting strike rates, but when he asked about a finger injury the batsman sustained, the cricketer walked away.
Barron wrote, “Just had a four hour conversation with this guy about strikerates,” then added, “Actually I asked him how his hand was he said it was fine then I said why aren’t you playing in this Test then he walked away.”
Babar first hurt the middle finger on his right hand during Pakistan’s Test tour of the West Indies in early August.
It flared up again on August 14 in a warm up match in Beckenham, when a rising ball from pacer Manny Lumsden struck the same hand and forced him to retire hurt. Pakistan’s medical team rested him as a precaution.
Babar trained at Headingley on August 17 but did not recover in time. Coach Sarfaraz Ahmed confirmed there was no fracture, but said Babar was still in pain, and he was ruled out of the first Test. Salman Ali Agha took over as captain for that match.
The first Test is being played at Headingley in Leeds, part of a three-match series that continues at Lord’s from August 27 to 31 and Edgbaston from September 9 to 13.
Pakistan were bowled out for 171 in the first innings, with Abdullah Shafique making 61 and Imam-ul-Haq 42. Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson took five wickets each for England.
England batted through a rain-affected second day. Joe Root and Jordan Cox added half-centuries in an unbroken stand before Dan Lawrence and Harry Brook took over, with Brook top-scoring on 91 in a century partnership.
Pakistan’s lone frontline spinner, Ali Usman, eventually broke through with a five-wicket haul. By stumps on day two, England scored 366/8, leading by 195 runs.
