Introduction:
The Pakistan Cricket Board has officially announced the Pakistani team’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025 and the tri-nation series. A 17-member squad has been announced for the Asia Cup 2025, which will be guided by Salman Ali Agha. And the same team’s squad will also play in the tri-nation series before the Asia Cup on August 29 this month.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will not be part of this team squad declared by PCB. While Fakhar Zaman, who suffered an injury during the West Indies tour, has fully recovered and has been selected in the team squad for the Asia Cup and the tri-nation series.
Babar Azam is not part of the team squad declared by PCB:
Babar Azam has performed brilliantly in T20 for Pakistan in the last few years. And he has also been at the number one position in the T20 International rankings for some time. But his T20 performance has not been good for some time and his low strike rate is a major problem. Babar Azam last played for the Pakistan national team in December 2024, after which he did not get a place in the team.
In the year 2025, he played PSL for Peshawar Zalmi in which he get 288 runs in 10 innings. His top score in PSL 2025 was 94 and he also get 56* and 53* but his strike rate overall was 128.57 which is low for modern day cricket. And in the current ODI series against the West Indies, his achievement was not good either, with his scores being 47,0 and 9. That is why Babar Azam was not included in the team declared by PCB for the Asia Cup 2025 and the tri-nation series.
Rizwan was also not included in the team squad declared by PCB:
Like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan has been a top performer for Pakistan in T20s for some time now. But his performance in T20 cricket has not been very good for the last few months. He was leading the team in the recent ODI series against the West Indies.
He scored 53 runs in the first match but his achievement was not good in the next two matches and he get 16 and 0 runs. Rizwan was not involved in the T20 series against Bangladesh and was also not part of the recent T20 series against the West Indies. And he is not involved in the 2025 Asia Cup team and the tri-nation team squad.
Pakistan Head Coach Mike Hesson’s Press Conference:
Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said during a press conference that Babar Azam needs to improve his T20 game. He was challenged to improve his T20 game but his return to form in three matches is strenuous. He performed well in the first ODI against the West Indies but could not maintain his performance in the next two matches. Babar Azam needs to build on his strike rate and boost his game against Spin bowlng.
And these are the things that Babar Azam is working very hard on but the players which played in team at the moment are performing very well for team. Sahibzada Farhan played six matches, out of which he was Man of the Match in three. Babar Azam is a great player and he has the opportunity to play BBL which will help him improve his T20 game.
Hesson said that we want to play aggressive cricket in this format, so the players should work on strike rate. We have faced different situations in the last three series. The pitches in Lahore were smooth and excellent for batting. But the pitches we got in Bangladesh were very low scoring, slow and difficult to play.
Pakistan’s squad for Asia Cup 2025:
The Pakistan Cricket Board has officially announced the Pakistani team’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025 and the tri-nation series. Shaheen Afridi has made it to the Pakistani squad for the tri-nation series and the 2025 Asia Cup, while Naseem Shah is once again not in the team as he is in action in the CPL. Salman Mirza, who performed brilliantly in the T20 series against Bangladesh and stood out by taking seven wickets in three matches, is also part of the Pakistani squad.
The Pakistani squad declared by PCB is as follows:
- 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
Conclusion:
The Pakistan Cricket Board has officially announced the Pakistani team’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025 and the tri-nation series. A 17-member squad has been announced for the Asia Cup 2025, which will be guided by Salman Ali Agha. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will not be part of this team squad declared by PCB.
While Fakhar Zaman, who suffered an injury during the West Indies tour, has fully recovered and has been selected in the team squad for the Asia Cup and the tri-nation series. Salman Mirza, who performed brilliantly in the T20 series against Bangladesh and stood out by taking seven wickets in three matches, is also part of the Pakistani squad.
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