Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam joined the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) squad ahead of their President’s Trophy Grade-I match against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). The four-day match will begin on Thursday (September 24) at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Babar’s addition to the OGDCL squad was confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday. The decision comes after Pakistan suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat in Test series against England amid several controversies.
Babar has joined the team along with young sensation Razaullah, while KRL have added mystery spinner Usman Tariq to their squad for the third-round fixture. A video has surfaced on social media showing Babar Azam meeting the players and the support staff of OGDCL on the field.Earlier, Razaullah also shared a video on his social media account while having green tea after eating heavily along with his teammates.
The upcoming match will mark Babar’s return to domestic first-class cricket after a gap of nearly seven years. His last domestic first-class appearance came in December 2019, when he played for Central Punjab in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
He is expected to feature for OGDCL in at least the third and fourth rounds of the President’s Trophy. The PCB said that the round will be played across Islamabad, Abbottabad and Peshawar. Four matches are scheduled from September 24 to 27.OGDCL have made a strong start to the tournament and currently sit second in the points table after two rounds with 31 points. They enter Thursday’s match after beating Kingsmen Academy by nine wickets in their previous game. The match against KRL will give Babar an opportunity to get valuable time in the middle in four-day cricket. With the game starting tomorrow, all eyes will be on the Pakistan captain as he returns to the domestic red-ball cricket after a long gap.