BIRMINGHAM, England: Babar Azam backed continuing as Pakistan Test captain after a Pakistan 3-0 whitewash, saying the team must acknowledge its mistakes and determine its strongest playing XI.
England completed the sweep with an eight-wicket victory at Edgbaston on September 12, reaching 130-2 in 24.2 overs after Mohammad Abbas dismissed Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay in the opening over. Joe Root finished unbeaten on 62 and Jordan Cox on 59.
Babar said Pakistan briefly believed they could defend the target after Abbas’s double strike, but Root and Cox responded with an unbeaten 128-run partnership. Asked whether he intended to remain Test captain, Babar said yes while stressing that team combinations would vary according to conditions.
Pakistan’s strongest individual performance came from 21-year-old debutant Razaullah, who took 4-148 in England’s first innings before hitting 81 from 63 balls, including nine sixes, in Pakistan’s second-innings total of 449. Babar described him as a “very good talent.”
England had won the opening Test at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs and the second at Lord’s by 194 runs. The sweep left Pakistan at the bottom of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 standings, while England remained sixth.
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Pakistan’s next Test assignment is a two-match home series against Sri Lanka, beginning at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on November 9, followed by the second Test in Lahore on November 17.
