Pakistan national cricket team red-ball captain Shan Masood has backed Babar Azam to carry his impressive Pakistan Super League (PSL) form into the upcoming Test series against the Bangladesh national cricket team. Pakistan will begin their two-match Test series against Bangladesh on May 8 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium as the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle resumes after a lengthy break.
Speaking ahead of the series, Masood praised Babar and described him as one of the finest batters produced by the country. “I think he’s one of Pakistan’s best players, one of the best batsmen Pakistan has ever produced. Having him among the runs is always good. A batsman always gains confidence whenever he scores runs,” Masood said.
“For us, it’s a very good sign that he’s coming in with a lot of runs to his name. We’re looking forward to Babar replicating the performances he had in the PSL in these Test matches as well,” he added.
Babar heads into the Test series after a sensational campaign in the Pakistan Super League 2026 season. The former Pakistan captain led Peshawar Zalmi to their second PSL title and finished as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.
The right-handed batter amassed 588 runs in 11 matches at an average of 73.50, including two centuries. One of his hundreds came during the knockout stage as Zalmi completed a successful title-winning campaign under his leadership.
Pakistan started their WTC 2025-27 campaign with a drawn series against South Africa national cricket team and will now look to improve their standing with a strong performance in Bangladesh.
Pakistan Squad: Imam-ul-Haq, Azan Awais, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Salman Agha, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Amad Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Khurram Shahzad, Ghazi Ghori, Abdullah Fazal