Shakeel-ur-Rehman
The Pakistani squad for the
tri-nation T20 series and Asia Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates has been announced. The same team that has been losing for some time now. Babar and Rizwan’s rivalry is also visible. For the past one year, Aqib Javed has been lying behind Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen Shah and Fakhar Zaman. Sometimes they are rested and sometimes they are dropped on the basis of being out of the team. But it is a fact that the Pakistan cricket team cannot function without them, which we have seen the performance of the Pakistan team in the past one year. Despite this, Pakistan’s head coach Mike Hesson and selector Aqib Javed want both Babar and Rizwan to score half-centuries and centuries in every match. Faheem Ashraf and Khushdil Shah do not understand whether this is batting all-rounders or bowling. Khushdil Shah, who joined the team in the absence of all-rounder Zake, has scored only 86 runs and taken three wickets in the last ten innings. Looking at this team, it is difficult for them to even win the tri-nation series, let alone the Asia Cup. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have not been selected in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE. Fakhar Zaman, who suffered a hamstring injury in the West Indies, has recovered and is part of the side.
Salman Agha will lead the 17-member squad, which will also participate in the tri-series against UAE and Afghanistan in the lead-up to the Asia Cup.
Babar last played a T20I in December 2024. In PSL 2025, he scored 288 runs in ten innings for Peshawar Zalmi. It included knocks of 56*, 53* and 94 but his overall strike rate was 128.57. He was part of the recent ODI series against West Indies where he had scores of 47, 0 and 9. Rizwan, like Babar, has not been part of Pakistan’s recent T20I squads for the home and subsequent away series against Bangladesh, followed by the T20Is in the West Indies. He made 53 in the opening game of the ODI series against West Indies, followed by scores of 16 and 0.
Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said Babar had been challenged with improving his T20 game. I think it’s really harsh to challenge a player on their form on three games,” he said at a press conference. “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.”
Shaheen Afridi, who had also found himself out of favour in T20 cricket of late, retained his place for the tri-series and the Asia Cup, though Naseem Shah missed out once again. Naseem is currently in action in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Lahore Qalandars fast bowler Salman Mirza, who was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker with eight against Bangladesh in the away T20I series, was included in the side. Ahmed Daniyal, who also impressed briefly, though was not part of the squad. Both specialist wristspinners – Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem, kept their place.
The squad is something of an amalgamation of the sides that have played T20I cricket under Hesson in the three T20I series over the summer. The recent ODI series – which Pakistan lost 2-1 in the Caribbean – appears not to have influenced decision making either way. Hesson said he intended to stick to the aggressive top-heavy approach he has championed in the format, and repeated that Pakistan’s game was suited to such a style.
“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 they were incredibly challenging and low-scoring games. Our top order sets the game up. All the games we won the top order performed really well. 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.”
The tri-series in the UAE between the hosts, Afghanistan and Pakistan will serve as a warm-up to the T20 Asia Cup, which will begin on September 9. Pakistan have never won the T20 version of that tournament; they reached the final when it was last played in 2022.
Pakistan squad for the UAE tri-series and Asia Cup
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.
