'Dropped’ Babar Azam reacts to Pakistan’s long-awaited home Test victory after 1300-plus days

Pakistan National Cricket Team batter Babar Azam came up with a congratulatory message for the Shan Masood-led side after their win over the England National Cricket Team in the second Test. He said that he is proud of the effort and the spirit of the side with which they played.

Pakistan National Cricket Team finally ended their home Test win drought. The Shan Masood-led side defeated the England National Cricket Team by a massive margin of 152 runs and leveled the three-match Test series 1-1, having faced a horrible loss in the first game.

Ahead of the second Test, Pakistan made massive changes to their squad. The hosts released big names in Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah from the squad. They included fresh faces, and the move paid off as they finally went on to win the Test match at home after more than 1300 days.

The hosts made a solid comeback after an innings defeat in the first Test. They came up with the vital effort with the bat and ball. It's fair to say that they looked in complete control of the game right from the start and executed their plans to perfection to win the second game.

Babar Azam lauds Pakistan for Test win over England

Babar Azam, who played the first Test, was impressed with the way the team played in his absence. The premier batter took to his Twitter account and lauded the effort of the team, saying that it was a fantastic win for the Pakistan National Cricket Team.

Babar Azam said: "Well done, team! Fantastic win. Proud of the effort and spirit."

Well done, team!

Fantastic win. Proud of the effort and spirit. 🇵🇰👏 pic.twitter.com/TYruIjEF9u

— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) October 18, 2024

Babar Azam's replacement, Kamran Ghulam slams ton on debut

Pakistan National Cricket Team opted to bat first and it was a decent outing for them even though most of the batters struggled to get going. Babar Azam's replacement, Kamran Ghulam, who made his debut for the team, came up with a sensational effort with the bat and cashed on the opportunity.

Kamran Ghulam slammed a blistering century on debut and ended with an innings of 118 runs off 224 balls. Along with him, Saim Ayub came up with a decent effort as he hit 77 runs, and the duo added 149 runs for the third wicket.

Valuable contributions from Agha Salman (31), Mohammad Rizwan (41), Aamer Jamal (37) and Nouman Ali (32) powered the Pakistan National Cricket Team to a total of 366 runs on the board.

With the ball then, Pakistan bundled out England for just 291 runs even after the century by Ben Duckett (114). Sajid Khan was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts as he picked 7 wickets, while Nouman Ali bagged three scals as the Shan Masood-led side took a first-innings lead of 75 runs.

Pakistan registers their first Test win at home since February 2021

In the second innings, Pakistan added 221 runs. Agha Salman (63) was the top performer, while Babar Azam's replacement, Kamran Ghulam, also played a valuable knock of 26 runs. The hosts set a target of 297 runs for the England National Cricket Team to chase and claim the series.

But Pakistan was sensational with the ball with spinners wrecking havoc across the opposition. Nouman Ali picked 8 wickets while Sajid Khan bagged two as they bundled out England for 144 runs to register their first Test win at home since February 2021.