Pakistan have announced a significantly revamped squad for their upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which will be played from July 20 to 24 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Salman Agha, who led Pakistan to a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh at home in May-June, will captain the side, though his deputy from the last series, Shadab Khan, will sit this one out.
Shadab, who recently had a shoulder injury, is still in recovery. Besides him, Pakistan will also be without Haris Rauf, who sustained a hamstring injury while playing for San Fransico Unicorns in Major League Cricket (MLC). Rauf was on a rampage in the league, having taken 17 wickets in eight games, before he picked up an injury on Friday in a fixture against Texas Super Kings.
Irfan Niazi, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Wasim, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, among others, have been left out of the squad. Naseem and Shaheen, along with other senior players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, will join the training camp ahead of the series, but there is still no comment about their future in the shortest format for the side.
Hasan Ali, on the other hand, will continue representing Warwickshire as part of his deal with the County. Earlier, the PCB ensured the county club of Hasan’s availability for the season, which seems to have been the reason for his exclusion while Pakistan tests other bowlers.
Uncapped fast bowlers Ahemd Daniyal and Salman Mirza are also a part of the squad, along with youngsters Sufiyan Muqeem and Hasan Nawaz. Hasan scored a T20I century to lead Pakistan to their only win in an otherwise full-of-horrors tour of New Zealand in March, and followed it up with a quickfire 44-run knock and a half-century versus Bangladesh.
Besides that, his form in the PSL was equally incredible, where he ended as the tournament’s third-highest run-scorer. Similarly, Abbas Afridi, who was the joint-second highest wicket-taker in the PSL, has also been added to a relatively younger bowling lineup.
This will be Pakistan’s second T20I series under new white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, who came after a revolving door of coaches. The current squad, featuring a mix of regulars and rookies, is likely part of a broader long-term plan leading into the next T20 World Cup in 2026, which is scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka.
Curiously, the squad was announced by the board’s Chief Operating Officer, Summer Syed, instead of any of the management. In a statement, the PCB confirmed that the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against West Indies, to be played in Lauderhill (T20Is) and Tarouba (ODIs) in early August, would be announced in due course. Syed also said that discussions are ongoing with Cricket West Indies (CWI) to potentially convert the ODIs into T20Is.
Pakistan squad for Bangladesh T20I series:
Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Sufiyan Muqeem
