ISLAMABAD (AP) — Babar Azam has returned to lead Pakistan’s test cricket team after Shan Masood was axed from the role on Sunday.
Masood’s firing seemed inevitable after the team lost 12 of 16 matches during his tenure, which began when he initially replaced Babar in late 2023.
“We wanted to look for a captain who could lead the team in a much better way,” selector Aaqib Javed told media in Lahore. “Shan’s individual performance was good but as captain we weren’t getting the desired results.”
Javed said the selection committee was unanimous in recommending Babar as captain and no other player came up in the discussion.
Pakistan’s results in test matches took a sharp decline since Masood lost 3-0 to Australia in his first series. Pakistan also lost 2-0 to Bangladesh at home for the first time and the only series win under Masood’s captaincy came against England at home when Pakistan won 2-1 as eventually Pakistan finished at bottom of the last World Test Championship points table.
Javed pointed out several shortcomings of the Pakistan team in test matches under Masood’s leadership that included losses against South Africa and the West Indies.
“The captain has a responsibility of finishing the games,” Javed said. “Some things are the responsibility of the team, some are the responsibility of the selectors, and some are the responsibility of the captain. The captain’s responsibility also includes maintaining the team’s over rate, taking DRS decisions and making the right call at the toss.”
Masood had a fair time with the bat during his captaincy as he scored two centuries and seven half centuries, including back-to-back fifties at Melbourne against Australia.
Babar had led Pakistan to 10 wins in 20 tests before Masood was handed the captaincy. Babar's tenure as skipper started with a 2-0 home win over South Africa and Pakistan also went on to clean sweep Bangladesh and Sri Lanka away from home.
As captain, Babar averaged over 50 runs per innings in test cricket and his only blemish came against England when Pakistan lost 3-0 at home.
Babar’s second stint as skipper starts with two-test series in West Indies later this month for which Pakistan named Masood as one of the 16 players. After the West Indies series, Pakistan will play three test matches in England for which Saud Shakeel will be added as a 17th player, subject to fitness.
Left-arm spinner Ali Usman, right-handed batter Awais Zafar, right-arm fast bowler Ubaid Shah and wicketkeeper batter Ghazi Ghori are the uncapped players in the squad.
Squad:
Babar Azam (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imamul Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Shan Masood, Ubaid Shah.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
FILE - Pakistan's cricket team skipper Babar Azam speaks during a press conference regarding up coming Twenty20 series against Ireland, England and T20 World Cup, in Lahore, Pakistan, on May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)
One person was killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied Crimea, Moscow-installed officials said in the early hours of Sunday, as Russian and Ukrainian leaders held separate calls with U.S. President Donald Trump on ending the war, now in its fifth year.
Two others were injured in the attack on northern Crimea, including one in a serious condition, the Russia-installed regional Gov. Sergei Aksyonov wrote on Telegram. He did not give details of the attack.
In recent weeks Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on key infrastructure targets in Crimea as Kyiv’s military seeks to isolate the vital Russian-held peninsula in the latest stage of the war.
The peninsula was seized by force and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine’s increasing use of long-range strikes has highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and put added pressure on the Kremlin while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt, Western analysts and officials say.
The latest attacks came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Trump on ending the war.
Writing on X, Zelenskyy said he called to congratulate Trump to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence and that the two leaders discussed the situation along the front line.
“There is a real prospect of ending this war, and America’s determination will be crucial. We agreed to continue the conversation in person during the NATO summit in Ankara,” he said late Saturday.
The Kremlin said that Putin and Trump discussed the conflict in Ukraine in a “constructive” phone call on Saturday.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Putin congratulated Trump and the American people on the 250th anniversary of America’s independence during the call that lasted nearly an hour and half, their fourth conversation so far this year.
Ushakov said that Trump reaffirmed his “readiness to help achieve a quick cessation of hostilities and search for peaceful solutions to settle the crisis” in Ukraine, while Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will continue mediation efforts and stand ready to visit Moscow.
The Kremlin adviser said Putin once again emphasized Russia’s “preference for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict, provided that Russia’s well-known, fundamental positions are taken into account.”
At the same time, Putin charged that Kyiv and its European allies are “betting on prolonging, and even escalating the conflict,” arguing that “the European ‘party of war’ proceeds from a flawed perception of the overall situation and the state of things along the line of contact,” Ushakov said.
He added that Putin told Trump about the “real situation on the battlefield, where Russian armed forces are confidently advancing, liberating one settlement after another.”
The Russian leader specifically mentioned the capture of the Ukrainian stronghold of Kostyantynivka, describing it as a key step toward the “liberation” of the entire Donetsk region. Kyiv has denied the Russian claim of capturing Kostyantynivka.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy holds a news briefing in Moscow, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
In this image taken from video provided by Russian Presidential Press Service on Friday, July 3, 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin while visiting one of the command posts of the Joint Group of the Russian Forces, in an undisclosed location. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
