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Depleted Pakistan Drop Star Trio For Upcoming Bangladesh T20 Series

Samarnath Soory

Last updated: July 8, 2025

3 min read

The star opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan have been ignored for Pakistan’s T20Is once again as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced their 15-man squad for the Bangladesh series on Tuesday.

Babar and Rizwan were not part of the three-match T20I series against the Tigers at home in June this year which Pakistan won 3-0.

Under the captaincy of Salman Agha, there has been one more major omission for the series to be played from July 20 to 24. Pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has not been considered for the series.

Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi left out of BAN vs PAK T20Is

Babar, Rizwan and Afridi now add to the list of major absentees that also include injured pacer Haris Rauf and vice-captain Shadab Khan.

Rauf had suffered a hamstring injury while playing for San Francisco Unicorns in the Major Cricket League (MLC) 2025 which has put him out of action for the series later this month.

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Shadab, according to reports, has been suffering an aggravated shoulder issue for which he has advised surgery. The spin-bowling all-rounder could miss the series against Bangladesh, West Indies and the possible Asia Cup 2025 in September.

Pakistan will also be without Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jr who are recovering from injuries besides the five major names who will miss the series.

Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf Return

The likes of Fakhar Zaman and Faheem Ashraf have made return to the T20 side after a long gap while medium pacer Ahmed Daniyal earned his maiden call-up following his impressive performances for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025.

Keeper-batter Mohammed Haris, big hitters Hasan Nawaz and Sahibzada Farhan kept their places after impressive performances in the tour of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh are currently playing Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series which will conclude on Tuesday and followed by three T20Is on July 10, 13 and 16. Sri Lanka had won the two-match Test series by 1-0. The ODI series is level 1-1 after two matches.

Pakistan, meanwhile, don’t have international matches scheduled until the Bangladesh series. They have three white-ball series scheduled until September, including the possible schedule for the Asia Cup.

Pakistan squad for tour of Banglades

Salman Ali Agha (Captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Sufyan Moqim

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