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UAE: Babar, Rizwan dropped as Pakistan announce squad for Asia Cup
The matches are set to be played between August 29 to September 28
- PUBLISHED: Sun 17 Aug 2025, 11:42 AM UPDATED: Sun 17 Aug 2025, 12:46 PM
Pakistan left out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20 squad named Sunday for the Asia Cup and a warm-up tri-series beginning this month against Afghanistan and the UAE.
The tri-series, featuring Afghanistan, Pakistan and UAE will be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium from August 29 to September 7.
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Meanwhile, the eight-team ACC Asia Cup T20I tournament will be staged in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from September 2 to 28. Pakistan are placed in Group ‘A’ alongside India, Oman and UAE.
Azam and Rizwan have been star performers in the shortest format in the past but have not played since December, which head coach Mike Hesson put down to other players performing well.
"We know what a fine player Babar (Azam) is," said Hesson.
"Babar has been asked to improve in certain areas, like taking on spin and in terms of his strike rate and he is working hard on these things.
"The players we have are performing well and having a positive impact," said Hesson.
"Our focus is to win the tri-series and the Asia Cup and the aim is to peak from these pinnacle events," said Hesson.
All-rounder Salman Agha will lead the side which also sees the return of fast bowlers Mohammad Wasim and Salman Mirza.
Mirza took seven wickets in Bangladesh but was left out of the squad against the West Indies.
Opener Fakhar Zaman also returns after being injured for a one-day international series in the West Indies last week, which Pakistan lost 2-1.
The tri-series, which starts on August 29, and the Asia Cup from September 9 will both take place in the UAE.
Since Hesson took over as head coach in May, Pakistan have played three T20 series -- winning 3-0 at home but losing 2-1 away to Bangladesh. They then beat the West Indies 2-1 in the United States.
The Men’s National Selection Committee announced the 17-member Pakistan squad as follows:
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufyan Moqim.
Schedules revealed
The committee also revealed the schedules of the trie-series matches and the ACC Asia Cup T20 2025.
All the tri-series matches are set to be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Here are the dates. (with inputs from AFP)
Tri-series:
August 29: Afghanistan v Pakistan at 7pm
August 30: UAE v Pakistan at 7pm
September 1: UAE v Afghanistan at 7pm
September 2: Pakistan v Afghanistan at 7pm
September 4: Pakistan v UAE at 7pm
September 5: Afghanistan v UAE at 7pm local time
September 7: Final match at 7pm
ACC Asia Cup T20 2025 (Pakistan fixtures, Super Fours and Final):
September 12: Oman v Pakistan, DICS, 6pm
September 14: India v Pakistan, DICS, 6pm
September 17: UAE v Pakistan, DICS, 6pm
September 20-26: Super Fours fixtures (Abu Dhabi and Dubai)
September 28: Final, DICS, 6pm
