LONDON: An embattled Pakistan side face England in the second Test of a three-match series here at Lord’s on Thursday.
England lead the series after the tourists were bulldozed by an innings and 103 runs in the series opener at Headingley, Leeds. They now look to regather and produce an improved set of performances at the game’s headquarters. Pakistan last won a Test on England soil in 2018 when they claimed a nine-wicket victory, interestingly at Lord’s.
Pakistan missed their regular captain and frontline batter Babar Azam in Leeds due to a finger injury.
Bowling coach Umar Gul on Tuesday said that Babar could return for the second Test after coming through a positive training session as he continues his recovery from the injury.
Right-handed Babar, who injured his finger during the West Indies series before aggravating the problem after being struck during Pakistan’s warm-up at Beckenham, was compelled to miss the first Test.
“Babar batted in the nets, faced fast bowlers, spinners and throwdowns,” Umar told reporters. “We’re hopeful he will be available for the game and today he was looking good; he batted well in the nets. He had a full batting session.”
His return would provide a timely boost for Pakistan after a batting collapse at Headingley, where England bowled the tourists out twice in fewer than 86 overs.
Babar was Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in the preceding series against West Indies, making 193 with the help of two half-centuries. The two-Test series ended in a 1-1 draw.
‘STUPID MISTAKES’ ANGER ROOT
Joe Root on Tuesday expressed his frustration that a winning return as England Test captain has been overshadowed by another off-field incident that saw Brydon Carse dropped for the second Test.
Carse has been referred to the Cricket Regulator after videos on social media appeared to show the fast bowler being led away by police in handcuffs following an incident at a nightclub in Derby on Saturday.
It is the latest in a series of controversies that have dogged England since a disastrous tour of New Zealand and Australia at the end of last year.
White-ball captain Harry Brook was involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer in Wellington and videos circulated of opener Ben Duckett appearing drunk on a night out during the 4-1 Ashes series thrashing by Australia.
In June, former captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were given a written warning and stood down from the second Test against New Zealand after an incident at a London nightclub which came after they broke a curfew.
Stokes announced his shock retirement from international cricket during the third Test a few days later, paving the way for Root to return for a second spell as red-ball captain.
England thrashed Pakistan inside three days of his first match back in charge last week.
“If I’m being brutally honest, I’m really hacked off. I’m really disappointed that, after last week’s performance, we’re sat here and we’re talking about something that is not related to it at all,” Root told a press conference on Tuesday.
“It’s not the isolated incident itself, it’s the fact we continuously keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it’s detracting from what we are doing on the field.”
A curfew on players going out was introduced in January following the troubled tour to Down Under.
However, Root has said he will not impose a curfew as he does not believe it is a productive way to change the culture around the England squad.
“I still don’t believe that’s the way to go. It’s important we create something bigger than that, it’s about having something long lasting that we can be proud of,” added the 35-year-old.
“Clearly we are not portraying ourselves how we want to and I think we have an opportunity to build a culture that is very strong, that we can be proud of, that is player driven and of course that isn’t going to happen overnight.
“We have already had conversations as a team on what is expected from this group of players, what it means to play for England, what it takes to play for England,” the skipper added.
“We want to create something that we can be proud of, that people who follow us can be proud of.”
Carse was not selected for the first Test and has been withdrawn from the squad for the second Test.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes an example has to be made to draw a line in the sand and improve off-field behaviour going forward.
“Someone is going to have to get a punishment that sends a shiver down the whole England cricket team and right down through the programme, so that everyone knows that if you misbehave or bring any kind of bad reputation on to this team, you know what’s going to come,” Vaughan told the BBC.
“It’s the only punishment that will really hurt players.”
Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2026
