Babar Azam moves closer to injury return after completing nets session

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/azam-babar/z7J0UtEQ/"]Babar[/a], who injured ‌his finger during the West Indies series before aggravating the problem ‌after being struck during [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pakistan/tS3K91g9/"]Pakistan[/a]'s ⁠warm-up match ‌at Beckenham, missed the first test ​which [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/UJC5mtAU/"]England[/a] won by an innings and 103 runs.[/p][p]"[b]Babar batted ​in the nets, faced fast bowlers, spinners and throwdowns,[/b]" Gul ⁠told reporters. "[b]We're ​hopeful he will be available for the game and today he was looking good; he batted well ‌in the nets. He had a full batting session.[/b]"[/p][p]His return would provide a timely boost for Pakistan after a batting collapse in the first test at Headingley, where England bowled the tourists out twice in fewer than ‌86 overs.[/p][embed guid="8fe606be-5f28-44d6-a527-7cb5a0d98733" url="https://x.com/HomeOfCricket/status/2092186643709010034" social-type="twitter" /][p]Babar was Pakistan's leading ​run-scorer in the preceding series against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-indies/jTD1lMfO/"]‌West Indies[/a], scoring 193 and registering two half-centuries.[/p][p]England lead the three-test series 1-0, with the second test set to begin ⁠on Thursday.[/p]