Salman Ali Agha will lead Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup and the Tri-series leading up to the tournament, involving Afghanistan and the UAE. The 17-member squad does not feature Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, both of whom haven’t been part of Pakistan’s shortest-format plans lately.
Babar last played a T20I in December 2024 and was left out of the team for the home and away series against Bangladesh, as well as the away West Indies series. The right-handed batter has managed a pretty decent average in the format, the kind that makes his exclusion almost farcical. However, his strike-rate issues, which have long followed him, do not suit Pakistan’s new strategy. Pakistan’s coach Mike Hesson said Babar has been tasked to improve his shortcomings and find his way back into the team.
“I think it’s really harsh to challenge a player on their form on three games,” he said of Babar on Sunday. “Babar played nicely in the first ODI but missed out on the next two. There’s no doubt Babar’s been asked to improve in some areas around taking on spin and in terms of his strike rate. Those are things he’s working really hard on.
“But at the moment, the players we have have done exceptionally well. Sahibzada Farhan has played six games and won three Player of the Match awards. A player like Babar has an opportunity to play in the BBL and show he’s improving in those areas in T20s. He’s too good a player not to consider.”
Besides him, Mohammad Rizwan, who has been battling almost the same issues – perhaps with a touch more severity – is also not a part of the Asia Cup-bound squad. The wicketkeeper-batter had a decent stint with his PSL team, Multan Sultans, where he scored at an average of 52, striking at a modest 139. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate the same numbers in international cricket, especially the strike rate.
Without Rizwan and Babar, Fakhar Zaman – who suffered a hamstring injury during the Caribbean tour earlier this month – is the only experienced batter in Pakistan’s top order. Sahibzada Farhan has been rewarded for his incredible outings in West Indies and Bangladesh. With Saim Ayub coming in as opener, the trio will form an explosive top order, something which Hesson said was part of their approach for the tournament.
“We were challenged with three different surfaces [in each of the three series],” Hesson said.
“In Lahore, the surfaces were flat and the batting excelled. We went to Bangladesh, where the games were incredibly challenging and low-scoring. Our top order sets the game up. In all the games we won, the top order performed really well. In the third game in the West Indies, our openers put on 140 [138]. We need that at a run rate that gets us ahead of the game. T20 is all about setting the game up and being ahead of the game all the time, in case you get yourself out. From a batting point of view, we’ve got a line-up that can continue to do that.”
For the bowling lineup, Pakistan have named both Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem in the squad. Shaheen Shah Afridi, who returned to the format against West Indies, has been retained to spearhead the pace attack consisting of his Lahore Qalandars teammates Haris Rauf and Salman Mirza.
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup and UAE Tri-series:
Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
