Pakistan vs West Indies: Babar Azam to not open the inning versus the Windies, to bat at number 3

Babar Azam who performed well as opener in the recently concluded Test-Series versus South Africa is set to be demoted to the number 3 position versus the West Indies

The Men's National Cricket Team of the West Indies, under the captaincy of Kraigg Brathwaite are going to travel to Pakistan in order to take part in a two-match Test-Series with the opening encounter set to be played in the city of Multan from the 17th of January onwards while the second and the final one will also be played the same stadium and it will commence from the 25th of January onwards. 

The selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had announced a 15-player squad of the National Team a few days ago for the West Indies Test-Series and seven players, who were included in the squad for the tour of South Africa have not been picked in the forthcoming series versus the Windies. 

25-year-old Abdullah Shafique, who was picked as an opening batter versus the Proteas, is not a part of the squad versus the Kraigg Brathwaite-led team due to his poor form with the bat while, explosive opening batter Saim Ayub misses out due to an ankle injury. 

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The PCB Selection Committee have instead decided to include experienced batter Imam-ul-haq and 22-year-old Mohammad Huraira in the team for the West Indies Series. Imam hasn't played Test Cricket for the Shaheens since being dropped in 2023 after the end of Pakistan's tour of Australia and this recall versus the Windies gives him a good opportunity to reclaim his spot in the team. 

Huraira on the other hand, was a part of the team for the England Test-Series but he didn't get a chance to feature in any game. He has taken part in 44 first class games and has eight fifties next to his name.

Now, the question which arises in the current situation is, who will come out to open the inning for the Green Shirts versus the Kraigg Brathwaite-led West Indies? 

In the 2nd Test-Match versus the Temba Bavuma-led South Africa in New Lands, following the injury of Ayub, former skipper Babar Azam came out to open the inning alongside skipper Shan Masood in both the innings of the encounter. In the 2nd inning, with the visitors trailing by 421 runs, the duo of Azam & Masood sitched a solid partnership of 205 runs for the first wicket. 

It's now being reported that the team management of Pakistan has decided that Babar will not be the opener in the Test-Series versus the Windies. The 30-year-old had played good knocks of 58 runs and 81 runs in both the innings of the Cape Town Test-Match and this call of not making him open is a surprising one. 

In the two-match Test-Series versus South Africa, Babar scored a total of 193 runs in four innings with three fifties next to his name. In 57 Test-Matches, the elite batter has managed to amass a total of 4,190 runs in 104 innings at a decent average of 44.10, with the help of nine hundreds & 29 half-centuries. 

It's looking highly likely that the former captain will be coming out to bat at number three in the batting in the upcoming Test-Series versus the Kraigg Brathwaite-led team. In 21 test-innings at the number three spot, he has scored 564 runs at a not so impressive average of 29.68.

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