Omission of experienced duo suggests the pair now unlikely to feature in T20 WC | Sports

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Pakistan has announced its 17 -member squad for the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, in which Salman Agha was appointed captain. The same squad will also be presented in the trilateral series against Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates as preparing for the Continental Tournament.

The most notable mistake is that of veteran batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who were not considered for choice. Meanwhile, Fakhr Zaman has recovered from this hamstring injury in the West Indies and has been withdrawn.

Head coach Mike Hesson described Babar’s removal as a “tough decision”, which recognized the height of the right -handed but indicated the need for improvement.

“Babar has been informed of the selectors’ decision. The team demands that it increase its strike rate and strengthen its game against the spin,” Hesson said.

He further advised that opportunities like the Big Bash League could allow the former captain to show progress in these areas.

Babar was last featured in the T20 in December 2024. In PSL 2025, he scored 288 runs in 10 innings for Peshawar Zalmi, including a score of 94, 56* and 53*, but his overall strike rate was 128.57. In Pakistan’s recent ODI series against the West Indies, it arranged a score of 47, 0 and 9.

The decision came as a result of Pakistan’s initial end to the 2024 T20 World Cup, which was made after his defeat in the 2022 final. Statistics indicate the concern: Since 2020, Pakistan’s first three batsmen have faced about three -quarters of the team supply. During this period, Babar and Rizwan have recorded a power play strike rate of only 116 and 117.40 under the modern T20 benchmark, where anything less than 130 is considered below.

On the contrary, the next generation is developing standout performances. Hassan Nawaz hit the fastest T20I century by a Pakistani off -44 balls and has an average rate of 162 in PSL 2025 with an average of 57 57 years. Meanwhile, Sahibzada Farhan has emerged as the most enthusiastic people in Pakistan this year, while he has achieved the highest success of 112*, 162* and 148. Six international rounds.

Pakistan’s batting order was often demolished when Babar Rizwan’s contribution failed soon, which exposed the conservative and delicate middle order. The former dependence on players like the previous Shah and Mohammad Nawaz won a particularly clear victory against England in 2022.

The Asia Cup 2025 now provides a platform to Pakistan, which has been given a platform to experiment with a refreshing squad, keeping an eye on the 2026 T20 World Cup. Estabouting, the move is supported by the move, and reflects the long -term change in Pakistan’s T20 strategy.

Pakistan’s head coach Mike Hesson has defended the selected squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, and promised the “highly competitive” compound and new abilities of experienced players.

According to reports, a four -member selection committee – which included Aqib Javed, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Aleem Dar, initially suggested a pond of 20 players.

While Babar Azam was included in the list, Hesson used his contract option to finalize the squad of 17, choosing to exclude both Babar and Mohammad Rizwan.

The decision was based on the recent form. After taking charge in May, Hesson’s first assignment – both players were closely monitored during the three -match ODI series against the West Indies.

Babar arranged a score of 50, 0 and 9, while Rizwan returned 53, 16 and 0. Sources indicated that their careful style, low strike rate and high number of dot balls failed to persuade the coach to prepare for their return.

“Babar has been asked to improve in some areas, especially against the spin and in terms of his strike rate,” Hesson said. “He is working hard on these aspects, but now the squad players have done extraordinary performance.” He added that Babar still has opportunities to prove himself in other competitions.

Hesson has permanently emphasized that the choice will be based on the current form rather than fame. For Babar, recent statistics paint a photo related to photo. In ODIs, they have not scored a century in 29 innings from September 2023, which has dropped from an average of 36 to 36. In the T20, his last century came in April 2023, and since then he has an average of more than 31.5 in his career on average 25 innings.

Leaving both Babar and Rizwan indicates a significant change, in which the internal suggestion is that the pair is no longer likely to be presented in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign in February 2026, which will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The director of the High Performance Center, AA Cab Javed, expressed confidence in the selected squad, confirming the final selection. “These 17 players are eligible to defeat any party, including India,” he said. “I hope the team can control India,” said Javed, a high profile Pakistan India confrontation on September 14 in the Asia Cup.

Shaheen Afridi, who had also found herself out of the right in late T20 cricket, retained her place for the Tri -Series and the Asia Cup, though Nasim Shah was once again lost as he failed to strengthen his place in the Asia Cup squad due to his inconsistent performance.

Lahore Qalandars fast bowler Salman Mirza, who was Pakistan’s wicketkeeper, who was eight in the T20 series against Bangladesh, was included. Ahmed Daniel, who briefly affected, was not part of the squad. Both expert wrist spinners – Abrar Ahmed and the Sufis held their place.

This squad is a matter of solidarity on the sides that have played T20I cricket under Hesson in three T20I series during the summer. The recent ODI series – which Pakistan defeated 2-1 in the Caribbean – seems to have not affected the decision in any way.

Hesson said he intends to remain in aggressive high -profile behavior, which he has won in shape, and he reiterated that Pakistan’s game is in accordance with this style.

Hesson said, “We were challenged in each of the three series with three different levels. In Lahore, the levels were flat and batting performed well. We went to Bangladesh where they were incredibly challenging and low -scoring games. [138]. We need to run at the run rate that takes us ahead of the game. The T20 is about to set up the game and stay ahead of the game. From a batting point of view, “we’ve got a lineup that can continue it”.

The Tri -Series in the United Arab Emirates between the hosts, Afghanistan and Pakistan will work as a warm -up in the T20 Asia Cup, which will begin on September 9.

This will be a chance for the Asia Cup for selected players and selectors to test the skills of the players on similar situations. Pakistan has never won the T20 version of the tournament. When he was last played in 2022, he reached the final.

In another development, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a significant change in its central agreements for the 2025-26 season, surprisingly, no player has been honored with a respected category. Last season, only Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had the status of category A. However, now the two have been divided into category B.

Pakistan’s Test Captain Sean Masood, who was previously in category B, has been more

As a result of the change of ten players of each level, the total number of central contractors was increased from 27 to 30 as a result of being associated with the category D. Fakhar Zaman, who lost the central contract for the first time in eight years in 2024, has been restored to category B during disciplinary operations.

The decision to stop any high -quality player has been officially attributed to performance concerns. An internal PCB communications indicated that the recent performance of any player did not guarantee this level of agreement, which would promote this level contingent on the effects of permanent and justification. Both Babar Azam and Rizwan, with the Pakistan team as a whole, experienced relatively poor seasons in the formats during the last year.

KHURMS87@yahoo.com