ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cricket team Head Coach Misbah ul Haq expressed hope that Captain Babar Azam will be available for the team’s second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.
In an interview, he said that in this regard a final call is likely to be taken only after a medical assessment in Mount Maunganui in three days.
The head coach said that Babar has started gripping the bat today and practicing with a tennis ball.
Both Azam as well as opener Imam-ul-Haq were injured in nets after receiving a blow to their respective thumbs during a throw down session in Queenstown last week.
With the pair ruled out of the first Test, the uncapped 24-year-old Imran Butt was called up as a possible replacement in the 17-man squad. Butt was the leading run-scorer in the 2019-20 Quaid-e-Azam trophy, with 934 runs at an average of over 62.
