Birmingham, September 12, 2026: Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam has called for a detailed review of the team’s shortcomings after England completed a historic 3-0 series whitewash in the recently concluded Test series.
Pakistan, who entered the series after a 1-1 draw in the West Indies, suffered a heavy innings-and-103-run defeat in the opening Test at Leeds before losing the second match at Lord’s by 194 runs.
The defeat at Lord’s prompted a major overhaul, with Pakistan replacing seven players as well as head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul.
The visitors showed greater resistance in the third Test at Edgbaston, highlighted by debutant Razaullah’s aggressive 81 in the second innings and Mohammad Abbas’s two wickets in the opening over of England’s chase. England, however, went on to win by eight wickets.
The result gave England their first-ever 3-0 home Test series whitewash against Pakistan.
Babar, who missed the opening Test through injury, said Pakistan now needed to acknowledge their mistakes and settle on their strongest combination.
“We need to sit down and admit our mistakes, and then work out our best XI,” Babar said during the post-match presentation.
Asked whether he would continue as Test captain, Babar replied in the affirmative, while acknowledging that team selection would depend on conditions in different series.
“Yes. But in different series you need players for the conditions, but the new boys have done well,” he said.
Babar said Pakistan had gained confidence when Abbas struck twice in the first over of England’s final innings but praised the hosts for recovering strongly.
“Belief was high with two wickets in the first over, but they played very well,” he said.
The captain also defended Pakistan’s decision to play without a specialist spinner, saying the grassy conditions in England favoured pace bowling.
“Don’t think so,” Babar said when asked whether Pakistan had missed a spinner. “The conditions have been grassy and that’s why we played with three fast bowlers.”
He reserved particular praise for Razaullah, who scored 92 runs and took four wickets in his debut Test.
“He is a very good talent,” Babar said.
Asked how much he knew about the 21-year-old before the series, Babar admitted that he had not known much about him, but said he became aware of Razaullah’s batting ability after learning that he had previously opened for Peshawar.
“Before we came here, we had to think about the team, and we made a couple of changes. Coming to England it is difficult for the batters and fast-bowling group,” he said.
