Pakistan hit by a blow as Babar Azam ruled out of 1st test vs England

LEEDS, England (AP) — Pakistan captain Babar Azam was ruled out of the first test against England starting on Wednesday because of a hand injury. Babar was struck on the middle finger of his right hand while batting against the West Indies this month, and hit again in a warmup game last week in Beckenham. “Pakistan captain Babar Azam is unavailable for the first test match,” Pakistan coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said on Tuesday. "Salman Agha will be the captain for the first test." Ahmed said the finger was not broken and he hoped the pain will reduce so Babar could play in the second test at Lord's starting on Aug. 27. But his absence was a blow to Pakistan. Babar had just been reappointed captain and led the scoring in the West Indies. Agha will captain the test team for the first time. He's the skipper of the Twenty20 side. Shan Masood, whom Babar replaced as captain, was recovered from his own broken finger during the first test in the West Indies. He missed the second test and warmup game but he'll return to the top order at Headingley. “Our practice match gave us a lot of confidence,” Ahmed said. “Whatever bases we needed to cover with bat and ball, we did. We believe we'll do very well here.” Pakistan is touring England for the first time since 2020 and the host appears vulnerable after losing the home series against New Zealand in June. Captain Ben Stokes retired and coach Brendon McCullum was fired and replaced by fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming. However, Fleming will miss the Pakistan series and Marcus Trescothick will be in interim charge. Joe Root expects to be a much better England captain than he was the first time from 2017-22. He's led England in a record 65 tests and earned 27 wins, 27 losses. He noted the circumstances were different from his first stint, and he was not the same player and person. He felt “very fortunate and in a unique position” to accept the captaincy again following the retirement of Stokes. He said he'd learned a lot from playing under Stokes and McCullum. "I feel as ready as any other England captain that's ever been before,” Root said. “To have that amount of experience is invaluable." He confirmed Harry Brook, who Stokes endorsed for the captaincy, was continuing as vice-captain. “I fully feel he's got my back like the rest of the guys do,” Root said. ___ See AP’s full cricket coverage here ___