Azan Awais is making way for Babar Azam at Lord’s. Pakistan’s 21-year-old opener was dismissed for a golden duck and then nine runs at Headingley, and with Babar fit again after a finger injury, the reshuffle drops Awais and pushes either Shan Masood or Abdullah Shafique up to open instead. Babar slots straight into the middle order at number four, and Mohammad Rizwan’s place is also being discussed as the team management weighs its options for the second Test. Salman Agha is expected to hand the captaincy back once Babar returns.
Awais Makes Way at Lord’s
Azan Awais’s Headingley Test lasted two dismissals and not much else. He was out for a golden duck off the very first ball of the match, lbw to Ollie Robinson, a fate only one other Pakistan opener has suffered in Test history. His second innings brought nine runs before Joe Root, stationed at a proactive leg slip, took the catch off Jofra Archer.
Nine runs across two innings at an average of 4.50 is not the platform a 21-year-old needed in just his third Test. He made his debut in May with a century against Bangladesh, so the talent isn’t in question, but Headingley was rough enough that the team management has seen enough for now.
Robinson became only the fourth England bowler in history to strike with the first ball of a home Test, a footnote that will sting Awais. Born in October 2004, he is just 21, and Headingley was only his third Test.
Babar Azam Pakistan XI Second Test 2026
The shape of the change is fairly clear even without an official teamsheet. Awais drops out, and either Masood or Shafique moves up to partner Imam-ul-Haq at the top, freeing a middle-order spot for Babar’s return at number four.
A couple of other calls remain open. Rizwan could be rested, and the team is weighing whether to add a second frontline spinner alongside Sajid Khan given the expected conditions, with Ubaid Shah also under consideration for the pace attack. Nothing is locked in until the toss.
None of it is confirmed on paper yet. The changes have been signalled through coaching staff comments rather than a released teamsheet, and the XI will only be finalised at the toss, so any of these calls could still shift.
His Long Road Back From Injury
Babar’s issue is a middle finger on his right hand, first struck during the series against West Indies and aggravated again in a warm-up match against a PCC Select XI when a young England pacer caught him flush. Coach Sarfaraz Ahmed ruled out a fracture before the first Test but kept him out as a precaution.
The second blow forced him out of the Headingley Test altogether, and Sarfaraz said at the time the squad had roughly a week to get him right for Lord’s. That patience seems to have paid off.
He worked through a full session in Lord’s indoor nets facing pace, spin and throwdowns, and the bowling coach came away encouraged by how he moved and struck the ball. Babar rated himself around ninety percent fit afterward, enough for the team to trust him back in the middle order for a pivotal week at Lord’s.
Salman Agha’s Captaincy Handover Comments
Agha has made no secret of wanting the armband back with Babar. Speaking after Pakistan’s innings defeat, he said he would happily return it once Babar was available again, a line delivered almost with relief rather than reluctance.
He also pushed back on the idea that this is the weakest Pakistan side in memory, framing the current group as a team still finding its feet rather than one in outright decline. England outplayed them in every department at Headingley, by his own admission, and fixing that starts with fielding the strongest XI available.
No formal board statement has confirmed the captaincy switch beyond what Agha said, but the bowling coach echoed the same message, warning that Babar’s return alone won’t fix a side that struggled everywhere in the first Test.
That strongest XI now runs through Babar Azam Pakistan XI second Test 2026 planning, with the captaincy back in his hands and Lord’s set to host his first Test in charge on English soil.