Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan snubbed from Pakistan's Asia Cup 2025 squad

Overview

• Pakistan announced its squad for the Tri Series against UAE and Afghanistan, and the Asia Cup 2025, respectively
• The 17-member squad is set to be led by Agha Ali Salman and has a mix of youth and experience
• However, the experienced duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam has been dropped from the squad

Pakistan announced its squad for the Tri Series against UAE and Afghanistan, and the Asia Cup 2025, respectively. The 17-member squad is set to be led by Agha Ali Salman and has a mix of youth and experience. However, the experienced duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam has been dropped from the squad.

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Rizwan and Babar are two of the most popular Pakistani cricketers in the last few years. However, their strike rate was a big issue in the last few months, which was the reason behind their absence in the Pakistani T20 side in 2025. Both Rizwan and Babar have a strike rate of under 135 in 2024 in T20Is.

In 2024, Rizwan played 20 innings and scored 617 runs at an average of 41.13, at a strike rate of just 117.30. His lack of acceleration was one of the reasons behind Pakistan's early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024. On the other hand, Babar scored 738 runs in 23 innings at an average of 33.55 and a strike rate of 133.21 in 2024.

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Pakistan snub Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam from Asia Cup 2025

While neither Babar nor Rizwan have been at their best in the last few years, there was a case for their return to the T20I side, given that the Asia Cup is taking place in the UAE, where Pakistan might need one of them to anchor the innings. However, they could not make the cut into the Pakistani squad for the Asia Cup 2025.

Pakistan's squad for the Tri Series and Asia Cup 2025:

Agha Ali Salman (C), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (WK), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim