Babar: 'Selection not in my hands, I simply give my inputs'

Babar Azam has acknowledged he did not call the shots as far as team selection goes, but said Pakistan's squad for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka was picked with the following World Test Championship cycle in mind.

"The 15 players I was given, my job is to get the best out of," Babar said, speaking ahead of the first Test, which starts tomorrow in Rawalpindi. "The selection or deselection of players is not in my hands. The selectors and coaches have given us a team, and my job is to help them fight and produce match-winning performances. I can't tell you in public what exactly my role is, and what aspects my role does not extend to. I'll always talk freely about my role within the setup. I give my input, and then the selectors and coaches do their job."

For the second time in two Tests, Pakistan reshuffled their Test squad after it was announced. On Saturday, less than 48 hours before the first Test, two players - Abdullah Fazal and Ali Usman - were removed. Another four were added, three of whom are yet to make their Test debuts. It follows on from the build-up to the third Test against England earlier this year, when Pakistan abruptly sent home seven players from England and replaced them with another seven, as well as sacking the head coach and bowling coach.

Babar said the type of players selected showed Pakistan wanted to invest in youth. "Our team is quite young," he said. "We've tried to make a better combination of seniors and juniors. We'll give youngsters opportunities to express themselves and perform well, and to take our team to the next level."

That decision has come partly because of where Pakistan currently sit in the World Test Championship. Rooted to the bottom of the table with no chance of making the final next year, Babar said Pakistan wanted to look ahead and prepare the players to hit their stride in time for the following cycle, which ends with the final in 2029.

Babar was aware Pakistan were out of contention this time around.

"We are pretty much out of the WTC this year, so we're looking forward to the next one. We've got more than half a dozen new players. Young talent that is performing domestically. We're looking to the future and tried to inject different kinds of players. We won't talk about what has happened in the past again, just learn from it and tell the newcomers how we want to play now."

It was inevitable, as it has been for the best part of four years, that Babar would have to reflect on his own form. The Pakistan Test captain's poor run has shown few signs of abating since the England tour. He scored just 60 runs in four first-class games in September and got a pair of starts that he failed to convert for the Lahore Whites earlier this week. Sandwiched between that was an ODI triseries, where he managed 118 in five innings, and was dismissed for a five-ball duck in the final.

Babar accepted his lean patch was hard to assign to a particular reason, but rejected the notion he needed a break from cricket, saying all he could do was train harder. "I'm talking to coaches about what I can improve. We're talking about it and working on it.

"I think positively. As a senior player, you want to do your best. People have different opinions, but if I take a break, how will I improve? I try and improve all the time. If you don't perform, you learn where you're making mistakes. You can't be perfect, you can just try and keep improving. I think the more I play, the better I'll be. Every day, you're not making the same mistake. You might make different mistakes. I prepare myself in training and on the field. I work hard, and I have to believe the result will come."