As Champions Trophy 2025 hosts Pakistan gear up for the showpiece tournament the home team’s preparations are in full swing. Their pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi bowled an absolute peach to trap star batter Babar Azam in front of the wicket in an intra-squad match on Tuesday.
Babar was dismissed for a duck as a result of Afridi’s swinging delivery which was bowled full and thudded into his pads. As the pacer and his team appealed loudly, the umpire lifted his finger straight away.
Pakistan enter as the favorites to defend their title which they won in 2017 by beating India in the final. The intra-squad match was held at their training camp in Lahore.
Pakistan, who have featured fully-loaded spin attacks at home recently, have gone with just Abrar Ahmed as the only frontline spinner in their 15-player squad. The likes of Salman Agha, Khushdil Shah are the other spin options. The team led by Mohammed Rizwan, however, have the likes of Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Mohammed Hasnain as their pace-bowling options.
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There was also another interesting choice from the Pakistan selectors who have picked up only Fakhar Zaman for the opening slot. With Saim Ayub out of action due to an injury and Abdullah Shafique suffering a rough patch of form, former Pakistan captain Babar Azam is likely to open the innings with Fakhar. Babar has primarily reserved for No.3 spot in the longer formats and only opened with Rizwan in the T20Is with great returns.
“Fakhar’s opening partner could be either Babar Azam or Saud Shakeel, depending on various factors such as conditions, opposition and match strategy. Both players are highly capable at the top of the order, with Babar being particularly seasoned in the role, regularly opening in T20Is and also excelling in the Cape Town Test by scoring two half-centuries in Saim Ayub’s absence,” Pakistan Selection Committee member Asad Shafique had said on the day of announcement.
Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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