Pakistan limited overs sensation Babar Azam has been ruled out for the remainder of the two-match Test series against England. Azam fractured his forearm after a blow was inflicted upon him by Ben Stokes.

Babar, whose Test career hasn’t been as great as his time in white-ball cricket, was showing real signs of getting into the groove in red ball cricket. On top of doing well against Ireland to play a match-saving innings for his team, he was batting on 68 when he had to retire hurt.

According to the chief physiotherapist of Pakistan, Cliff Deacon, the youngster is going to be out of action for the next four to six weeks.

"We decided we were going to do a precautionary x-ray at the end of the day's play," Deacon said. “Unfortunately, the x-ray confirmed there was a fracture. The fracture's in the forearm, it's one of the two bones in the forearm in the distal third of the arm, just above the wrist. That's why he couldn't hold his bat properly."

No backup has been called up for him as the squad already has three specialist batsmen in the form of Usman Salahuddin, Fakhar Zaman and Sami Aslam and his replacement might be one of them.