Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali ruled out of first Test against England

Azhar Ali is facing an injury setback for the first time since he made his debut in 2010

Pakistan top-order batsman Azhar Ali will miss out on playing the first Test against England due to a foot infection. The Pakistan management took the decision on Sunday, two days before the series against England was set to begin.

30-year-old Ali was affected by the infection when he went to the Haj in Saudi Arabia last month. The Pakistan team manager, Intikhab Alam, was speaking to ESPNCricinfo and confirmed the unavailability of the batsman who has been in decent form for Pakistan in the last one year.

“He will not be playing in the first Test. His wound is almost dried up, but he is not comfortable wearing his shoe and didn't take part in training activities since we are here,” Alam said.

Pakistan were hoping that that Ali would have recovered from the injury after he missed out on playing the last ODI match against Zimbabwe. Ali, the captain of the Pakistan ODI team, led his team to a series win over Zimbabwe.

Since making his debut against Australia in 2010, this is the first injury that Ali has faced. In the last five years, Ali has gone on to play 44 Tests for his country, garnering 3393 runs at a healthy average of 44.06 and scoring nine hundreds in the process.

England bowling spearhead, James Anderson, seemed relieved at the news of Ali's absence. He guided Pakistan to a Test match victory against England at The Oval in 2010 and also a Test series win of 3-0 against England in the UAE in 2012.

“He played very well last time at No. 3. He was the guy to get out for them even with their experienced players after him, I thought he was the key wicket for us so he'll be a big miss. But they have plenty of other quality players who have made big runs out here,” Anderson said.

Shan Masood, after putting in a good show in Sri Lanka, is likely to keep his role as the opener. One of Ahmed Shehzad or Mohammad Hafeez will be partnering Masood while the other one will be filling in at No. 3 in place of Ali.

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik could get an opportunity to take the place of Ali in the starting XI. Malik, if picked, will be playing his first Test in five years. He will be hoping to get a chance to repay the faith of the selectors and put in a good performance for his country.

Pakistan and England will be playing three Tests, which will be followed by four ODIs and two T20Is. Both the teams will be looking to perform well in the Tests and replace second-placed Australia in the Test rankings.