Babar Azam 90% Fit to Lead Pakistan in Lord’s Test Against England

The Test captain, Babar Azam, has confirmed his availability for the second Test against England to be played at Lord’s. freshyourfeel.org

He’ll be returning to the field despite admitting he is not fully recovered from the finger injury which ruled him out of the series opener.

Babar missed the first test at Headingley, where England secured a massive win by an innings and 103 runs. Since then, the Pakistan captain has returned to training and is confident about his fitness.

Speaking at the press conference, Babar Azam said, “Yes, I’m 90% fit for tomorrow’s match.”

His return will significantly bolster Pakistan’s batting lineup, and he has an impressive record in England, with an average of 65.75 in the country, while he has scored at an average of 53.83 in 14 tests against England.

Babar Azam admitted Pakistan were well below their best at Headingley and said the team had spent time reviewing what went wrong.

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“We’re not playing up to the mark, the way the England team is playing,” added Babar Azam. “But after that, we sat together and discussed our mistakes. And we just forgot those things and looked forward to tomorrow’s match.”

Pakistan fast bowling coach Umar Gul said the test captain faced pace in nets, but most of his batting work has come against throwdowns.

Babar Azam’s inclusion will provide great stability in the middle order, but he also admits that his presence alone will not fix the problems that contributed to the defeat in Headingley.

Pakistan were bowled out for 171 in their first innings, their lowest first innings Test score in a decade. They lost their final eight wickets for only 64 runs after Imam ul Haq and Abdullah Shafique had put together a promising 91-run partnership.

He believes the solution lies in the team producing better all-round performances rather than relying on individuals.

“You need to produce complete team performances,” he said. “You have to bowl and bat in partnerships.

“And you have to take it deep as a batter if you’re set. If you’re set, it’s a little easier. For a new batter, it’s a little bit difficult to build partnerships.”

“We need to [stamp out] the back-to-back wickets we lose. The senior batters need to be more focused and make up for it,” he said.

“The number Abdullah is batting at, he should [continue to] play there,” Babar said. “He’s batted three and four since his comeback. He’s got confidence there, so he’ll continue there,” added Azam.

The second test will be played between August 27 and 31 at Lord’s, London.

Madrid [Spain], August 27 (ANI): A Kylian Mbappe hat-trick helped Real Madrid crush Real Sociedad 4-1 in their La Liga match at their home arena of Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

This marks their first win of the season at home and their second win in two matches. The Jose Mourinho era continues undefeated for the Spanish giants, who would be eyeing redemption after two dry seasons without any major titles.

Denzel Dumfries, along with Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr, was a part of the starting line-up for Real Madrid. In the first half, there were chances at both ends, with Mbappe, Vinicius and Mikel Oyarzabal of Sociedad all being denied, as per Goal.com.

A wide strike from Sergio Gomez made it seem like the first half would be drawless, but the match came to life in the final five minutes of the first half.

Mbappe struck to make it 1-0 in the 40th minute, sending his opponent the wrong way after a pass from Federico Valverde. Four minutes later, Luka Susic produced a gentle equaliser, taking the scoreline 1-1 into half-time.

Mbappe later combined with Bellingham to make it 2-1 in the 60th minute. Vinicius also struck, making it 3-1 in the 68th minute, before Mbappe completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute to make it 4-1. Brahim Diaz’s strike could have made it 5-1, but saw his goal ruled out for offside.

Speaking after the match, Mourinho said, as quoted by the club’s official website, that the first half was difficult as they struggled to click with their pressing and admitted to sitting on the bench “wishing for a water break".

“The first half was difficult for us, in the sense that we weren’t clicking with our pressing, and Real Sociedad didn’t create or have many scoring opportunities. I think their goal was the only shot on target they had in the first half, but they were very well-organized. They are a team with a very good coach, large distances between their central defenders, and very hard to press. It was one of those games where I was saying on the bench that I wished there was a water break, it would have been perfect," he said.

“At halftime, we adjusted some things, and then in the second half, we scored four goals, but it could’ve been five or six. That would have been unfair to a Real Sociedad that had a great first half but faced obvious difficulties in the second against a team with players like Kylian, Jude… It is a lot of football and a lot of quality. In the second half, it was impossible for them," he added.

Making his return to Bernabeu after the first spell with the club from 2010-13, he said that the match was “calm"

“The first match at the Bernabeu was calm. I don’t get very nervous or tense before matches anymore. I enjoyed it a lot. The last time I came here with Benfica (his previous team), I stayed in the garage watching the game. Today is the first time I have been in the new Bernabeu. I am not a fan of them chanting my name. The team is the most important thing, and feeling the support is what matters most to me. I am very happy with the players’ feelings after playing their first home match, winning well, the fans going home smiling, and tomorrow we train because Malaga is coming on Sunday," he signed off. (ANI)

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[popcorn number="9-99" desc="North Zone spinner Abid Mushtaq’s match figures vs West Zone" class="Default"]

Jammu & Kashmir's left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Abid Mushtaq produced a match-winning performance, claiming a combined 9 for 99 as North Zone defeated Ruturaj Gaikwad-led West Zone by 52 runs in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Mushtaq was the star of the show on a red-soil pitch that took 25 wickets to spin, as North secured a thrilling victory on the final morning. At the start of the fifth day the match had been tantalizingly poised, with West Zone needing 67 runs and North three wickets. North had just 6.3 overs left to finish the job, Mushtaq and Nishant Sindhu mopping up the rest of the lower order. Mushtaq was instrumental in North's rescue act late on the fourth day and struck with the second ball of the final morning.

West had been cruising at 211 for 4 after a century partnership between Musheer Khan and Gaikwad, but Mushtaq removed Tanush Kotian with a delivery that skidded low,beat the defence and crashed into middle stump.

Tushar Deshpande, who has a first-class best of 123, survived 17 deliveries before charging down the track to Mushtaq on the 18th. But his undoing was the drift around the stumps as his attempted heave resulted in an edge that was taken by Abdul Samad in the slips. Three balls later, North sealed the win when Urvil Patel was trapped lbw for 25 while trying to attack Sindhu’s left-arm spin. If West still had a review, he could have overturned the decision. Mushtaq’s effort was backed by a good spell from Arshdeep Singh, who was playing red-ball cricket for the first time in nearly a year and ended up with four wickets.

Three of those came in the first innings, as he troubled West's toporder with late movement in both directions.

Anshul Kamboj also played a key role in North's victory. He top-scored with 60 in the first innings, helping North recover from 161 for 7 to reach 251.

Kamboj then struck with the old ball to remove Mumbai duo Shams Mulani and Kotian in quick succession, helping North secure a 64-run first-innings lead.

North subsequently strengthened their position through Ayush Badoni, who registered his second consecutive half-century of the match.

The victory sends North Zone into the semifinals, where they will face Tilak Varma-led South Zone in the first semifinal.

In the other quarter-final, East Zone defeated North East Zone to book a meeting with defending champions Central Zone, led by Rajat Patidar, in the second semifinal.

Both semifinals will be played at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from August 30.

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