Why Are Babar Azam And Mohammed Rizwan Dropped: In a huge shift in Pakistan cricket, former captain and star cricketer Babar Azam along with veteran wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan have not been picked for Pakistan’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025.
The Asia Cup 2025 will be played in the T20I format from September 9 in the UAE. The tournament’s T20I format has been organized keeping in mind the T20 World Cup early next year in India and Sri Lanka.
In the Asia Cup, Pakistan are grouped with archrivals India in Group A, which also includes Oman and UAE.
Pakistan’s new head coach, Mike Hesson, has opened up on the non-selection of the senior duo, in particular Babar Azam.
Both Babar and Rizwan have not featured in a T20I since December 2024. They were not part of Pakistan’s recent T20I series against Bangladesh, both home and away, and against the West Indies (away).
Hesson, a well-renowned coach with vast experience in T20 leagues around the world, was clear that though Babar, and by extension Rizwan, are not completely cast aside from the national T20I side, other more attacking top-order batsmen have been preferred over them.
Why Are Babar Azam And Mohammed Rizwan Dropped From Pakistan’s Squad For Asia Cup 2025?
Pakistan’s new head coach Mike Hesson stated that Babar Azam has been told to improve his strike rate and his game against spinners. And hence, due to his game lacking in both strike rate and against spinners, he was dropped for the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE.
Hesson said, “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.”
In the PSL 2025, Babar had a disappointing campaign, scoring 288 runs in ten innings at a dismal strike rate of 128. Rizwan was only a little better, recording a strike rate of 139.
Aggressive opener Fakhar Zaman has recovered from a hamstring injury and walks straight into the squad. Salman Ali Agha has been named Pakistan’s captain for the Asia Cup 2025.
While left-arm speedster Shaheen Afridi has retained his place, despite indifferent form, Naseem Shah has surprisingly fallen out of favor and has been dropped from the Asia Cup.
Before the Asia Cup, Pakistan will play a tri-series in the UAE against the UAE and Afghanistan.
Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup and the tri-series in UAE and :
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
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