Babar Azam is Pakistan captain again; Shan Masood out

Shan Masood has been removed as Pakistan's Test captain for the upcoming tours of West Indies and England with Babar Azam taking charge. Masood, who was appointed Test captain, almost three years ago, had an underwhelming record as skipper in the format, losing 12 of the 16 Tests he captained.

The final nail in the coffin appeared to be the recent whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh, something that has happened twice now in the last two years. Other results include whitewashes away in Australia and South Africa as well. Babar, who was the skipper before Masood, has struggled for form in Test cricket in recent times.

While a 16-man squad has been announced for the West Indies series, the selectors added Saud Shakeel as the 17th member for the England tour, subject to fitness. The selectors have named four uncapped players in the squads - left-arm spinner Ali Usman, batter Muhammad Awais Zafar, pacer Ubaid Shah and wicket-keeper batter Muhammad Ghazi Ghori.

Pakistan will first tour West Indies by the end of the month to play two Tests. The opening Test will be played between July 25-29 in Tarouba with the second Test scheduled to be held in Port of Spain from August 2-6. The team will then fly to England for the three-match series, scheduled to be held in Leeds, Lord's and Birmingham between August 19 - September 13.

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