The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the national squad for the upcoming T20 tri-series and Asia Cup, dropping star players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Naseem Shah.

 

Salman Ali Agha will continue to lead the 17-member squad that includes Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Khushdil Shah and Hussain Talat. Other members include Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem.

 

The tri-series between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be played in Sharjah from August 29 to September 7, while the Asia Cup will take place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from September 9 to 28.

 

Green Shirts will play their first match on September 12 against Oman, followed by the highly anticipated encounter against arch-rivals India on September 14.

 

“Conditions in Sharjah are always challenging. We cannot take Afghanistan lightly. Playing against them is and will remain a challenge,” Head coach Mike Hesson said during a presser.

 

“We will prepare well for it. The tri-series will give us a chance to prepare for the Asia Cup,” he added.

 

Hesson further said that it was a tough call to judge a player’s form on the basis of only three matches. “Babar Azam played well in the first match but was asked to improve in some areas. Sahibzada Farhan was man of the match in three out of six games.”

 

Director of High Performance Aaqib Javed also spoke about the decision. "Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were not part of the last three series. Saim, Fakhar and Sahibzada Farhan were playing in the top order. It is not fair to say that we are ruling out Babar and Rizwan based on two or three matches. We cannot say they will never be considered again."

 

“The current players have been given opportunities. The seniors have the Big Bash coming up. Whoever performs well there will come back into the team,” he said, adding that Babar and Rizwan would definitely play T20 cricket if they performed like others.

 

“There is no issue with them, but at the moment, we have good options in hand.”