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Pakistan Cricket Board Makes Major Changes After Lord’s Defeat

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Cricket

The numbers told one story. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s reaction told another.

Two crushing defeats in a row against England – an innings-and-103-run humiliation at Headingley followed by a 194‑run loss at Lord’s – have forced a ruthless reset. With the series already gone at 2-0 in a three-Test contest, Pakistan have ripped up their plans for the final match in Birmingham.

On Monday, the PCB announced that seven members of the Test squad, including senior figures Mohammad Rizwan, Imamul Haq and Salman Ali Agha, have been released from the touring party during the ongoing series.

They are joined on the way out by Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad. For a mid-series cull at this scale, the message is blunt: the status quo has failed.

New blood, new direction

The clear-out is matched by an equally bold injection of fresh faces. The PCB has named seven replacements, describing them as “five uncapped players at Test level and two capped players”.

Saim Ayub, with eight Tests to his name, and Abdullah Fazal, who has played two, headline the group of capped call-ups. Both arrive with just enough experience to know the demands of the format, but not so much that they are tied to old scars from this tour.

Around them, Pakistan have built a ring of untested potential.

Left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Arafat Minhas steps in after already tasting international cricket in three ODIs and four T20Is. Left-arm quick Mohammad Imran Jr. adds another angle to the pace attack. Behind the stumps, wicketkeeper-batter Saad Baig is rewarded for a standout domestic season, having been named player of the tournament in the 2025-26 Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.

Completing the group are right-arm pace-bowling all-rounders Mohammad Imran – also known as Imran Randhawa – and Razaullah, both offering the kind of balance modern Test sides crave but Pakistan have struggled to harness in England.

All seven will link up with the squad ahead of the third Test, scheduled for September 9 at Birmingham, where the visitors will try to salvage something more than pride from a bruising tour.

Coaching shake-up on the fly

The changes do not stop with the playing staff.

Test head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul have also been relieved of their duties mid-series, a dramatic move that underlines how deeply the PCB views this slump.

In their place, Pakistan turn to their white-ball brains trust. White-ball head coach Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke will step into the Test backroom for Birmingham, tasked with steadying a shaken dressing room and coaxing immediate response from a remodelled squad.

It is a short runway for a big job.

Updated squad for Birmingham

The revamped Test squad for the third and final match now reads:

  • Babar Azam (captain)
  • Abdullah Fazal
  • Arafat Minhas
  • Azan Awais
  • Mohammad Abbas
  • Mohammad Ali
  • Muhammad Imran
  • Muhammad Imran Jnr
  • Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicket-keeper)
  • Razaullah
  • Saad Baig (wicket-keeper)
  • Saim Ayub
  • Sajid Khan
  • Saud Shakeel
  • Shan Masood
  • Ubaid Shah

Established names. Newcomers. A patched-together coaching team.

With the series already lost, Birmingham will not decide a trophy. It may, however, tell Pakistan far more important things about where this Test side is actually heading.

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