Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has voiced his discontent regarding star batter Babar Azam's exclusion from the Test squad for the remainder of the England series.

Raja believes that it should have been Babar's decision to rest rather than being dropped from the lineup entirely. His comments were made during a discussion with former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on Sky Sports.

 "It should have been Babar's call whether he wanted time out of the playing XI or not. It was a kneejerk reaction, new selectors in. The general opinion was he needed rest and he was taken out of the squad completely," Raja said.    

The 30-year-old has faced challenges in red-ball cricket, having failed to score a half-century in his last nine Tests. Despite batting on friendly conditions at home, he has not performed to his usual standards. Raja highlighted the impact of Babar's absence on cricket's commercial aspects, emphasizing that he is a key figure in attracting sponsorship for Pakistan cricket.

 "We need to understand he sells cricket for Pakistan and there is always this debate happening in Pakistan on whether it's going to be another failure for Babar Azam or whether he is going to make a comeback and that keeps things interesting. Right now, I don't see any sellable comodity in this Pakistan team. The sponsors are little wary as well because Pakistan have been on a losing sequence and there are no real superstars playing in this Test match," he said.    

In Babar’s absence, Kamran Ghulam made his Test debut in Multan, batting on a spinner-friendly track. He walked in after the early dismissals of Abdullah Shafique and captain Shan Masood, who won the toss and chose to bat first. The pitch, which had already begun to show cracks and marks, was the same one used in the first Test but had altered significantly after the grass was removed and the surface dried.

Pakistan Playing XI: Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.