The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a 17-member T20 team for the Asia Cup 2025 and the UAE triangular series, which will be played beforehand. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have not been included in the team. The captaincy of the team has been handed over to all-rounder Salman Ali Aga. The Asia Cup will be held in the UAE from September 9 to 28. At the same time, teams from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the UAE will participate in the triangular series to be held before that.
Babar last played a T20 match in December last year. Babar Azam last played a T20 international match in December 2024. After this, he played some good innings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025, including innings of 56 not out, 53 not out, and 94 runs. Recently, his scores in the ODI series against the West Indies were 47, 0, and 9. At the same time, Rizwan was also not included in the recent T20 International series (at home against Bangladesh and in the West Indies).
In the ODI series against West Indies, he scored 53 runs in the first match but could only score 16 and 0 runs in the next two matches. At the same time, Fakhar Zaman has returned after getting fit. He suffered a hamstring injury on the West Indies tour, but now he has been included in the team for both the Asia Cup and the tri-series. India, Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE have been placed in the same group. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong are in Group B. All the teams in the group will play 1-1 matches against each other. India will face the UAE on September 10, Pakistan on the 14th, and Oman on the 19th.
If India and Pakistan make it to the Super-4 stage, the two teams will face each other once again on September 21. The final of the tournament will be played on September 28. If India and Pakistan top the Super-4 stage, there could also be a third match between the two in the tournament. The last Asia Cup was hosted by Pakistan. The Asia Cup 2023 was hosted by Pakistan. However, after India refused to tour Pakistan due to security reasons, it was then played in a hybrid model. All of India’s matches were held in Sri Lanka. India defeated Sri Lanka to win the Asia Cup 2023 title.
Pakistan Squad for Tri-Series and Asia Cup 2025
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Sufian Moqim.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: What is India’s Record against Pakistan so far?
Both tournaments will be held in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai from August 29 to September 28. The tri-series involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the UAE will be played from August 29 to September 7 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Pakistan will then turn its focus to the Asia Cup, an eight-team tournament in which they have been placed in Group A along with India, Oman, and the UAE. The matches will be played from September 9 to 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and grounds in Abu Dhabi.
Six round-robin tri-series matches will be played before the final in Sharjah on September 7. Pakistan will play their first match against Afghanistan on August 29 at 7 pm, followed by the UAE the next evening. In the Asia Cup, Pakistan will face Oman on September 12, India on September 14, and the UAE on September 17. All matches will be played at the DICS Stadium from 6 pm onwards. The Super Four matches will be played from September 20 to 26, culminating in the final in Dubai on September 28.
Why did Babar Azam not get a place in the Asia Cup team?
In the Pakistan team, their two big star players, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, did not get a place in the squad for this important tournament. Salman Ali Agha has been made the captain of the Pakistani team for the Asia Cup, while Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, and Fakhar Zaman have also gotten a place for the team. At the same time, the reason behind not selecting both Babar Azam and Rizwan, who were once an important part of the limited-overs format of the Pakistani team, for this important tournament was revealed by the current head coach of the Pakistani team, Mike Hesson, himself.
After the announcement of the Pakistani squad for the Asia Cup 2025, Mike Hesson, in response to a question about the reason behind not selecting Babar Azam, said that there is no doubt that Babar still has some areas where he needs to improve a lot. I know that Babar is working very hard to improve all these things. His strike rate against spin is very low. Babar will now play in the Big Bash League later this year, where he will have a chance to prove himself, in which he can also show his hard work. He is a much better player, so it will not be easy to ignore him.
If we talk about Babar Azam’s performance in this year’s season of the Pakistan Super League, he scored 288 runs in 10 matches while playing for the Peshawar Zalmi team, in which he scored runs at a strike rate of 128.57, which is very low considering the current times. At the same time, Babar scored a total of 56 runs in three innings in the recent ODI series against the West Indies, in which he could not even open his account once. Pakistan has announced the squad for the UAE T20 Tri-series and Asia Cup 2025, the matches of which will be held in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.