Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi won’t play in Pakistan’s home series against Bangladesh. The team announced its T20 squad on May 21.
These big players are missing due to their recent performance.
Pakistan will host Bangladesh for a 3-match T20 series starting May 27. It was initially set for May 25, but got delayed due to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) being postponed. This series will be the first for Mike Hesson as Pakistan’s head coach. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chose a 16-player team, led by Salman Ali Agha and assisted by Shadab Khan.
Babar, Rizwan, and Afridi were also dropped for the New Zealand tour. Pakistan lost that series badly. Coach Hesson wanted Babar Azam to play in the T20 series against Bangladesh, but the selectors disagreed. After being left out of the T20 series for the second time, it seems the PCB doesn’t think these three players are a good fit for this format.
The PCB said the team was chosen based on performance in PSL 10. In 10 PSL matches, Babar scored 288 runs with 3 half-centuries. Rizwan got 367 runs, including a century. Shaheen Shah Afridi took 11 wickets.
Here’s the squad:
– Salman Ali Agha (captain)
– Abrar Ahmed
– Faheem Ashraf
– Fakhar Zaman
– Shadab Khan (vice-captain)
– Haris Rauf
– Hasan Ali
– Hasan Nawaz
– Hussain Talat
– Mohammad Haris
– Khushdil Shah
– Mohammad Wasim Jr
– Mohammad Irfan Khan
– Saifullah Bangash
– Saim Ayub
– Nasim Shah
– Shahibzada Farhan
Match schedule:
- May 27, Gaddafi Stadium, 8 PM
- May 29, Gaddafi Stadium, 8 PM
- May 31, Gaddafi Stadium, 8 PM