No Babar Azam But Shaheen Afridi Called Back To Pakistan T20I Squad

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5 days ago

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Pakistan recalls Shaheen Shah Afridi for the T20I series in the West Indies, while Babar Azam is ignored. Mohammad Rizwan remains ODI captain.
Pakistan has recalled fast bowler and former captain Shaheen Shah Afridi for the upcoming T20I series in the West Indies, while ignoring Babar Azam again. Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf, who missed the recent series in Bangladesh, will join Afridi in making a comeback to the team.
Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has been retained as the captain of the ODI side, despite the team's group-stage exit in the 2025 Champions Trophy under him. Babar also continues in ODIs.
Pakistan and the West Indies will play three T20Is and three ODIs in the Caribbean. The T20s are scheduled from July 31 to August 3 in Florida, followed by the ODIs between August 8 and 12 in Trinidad.
Three young pacers — Abbas Afridi, Ahmed Daniyal and Salman Mirza — who played in the T20 series in Bangladesh, which ended on Thursday, have not been picked for the West Indies tour.
Pakistan T20 squad: Salman Ali Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Muhammad Haris, Muhammad Nawaz, Sahabzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufyan Muqim.
Meanwhile, new coach Mike Hesson recently gave a lowdown of his stint so far, which has seen them having whitewashed Bangladesh at home in June, followed by losing the reverse three-match series 1-2.
'First 6 games on two contrasting pitches gave us key insights. A young batting group shone with 200+ scores early. Mirpur which is the lowest scoring venue in T20I's certainly tested our adaptability and after struggling early we fought back and showed an ability to learn with experience," Hesson posted on X (formerly Twitter).
'New players stepped up, showing promise and in some instances excelling. Specialist Coaches have played a key role in developing bowlers both here and at the NCA. Fielding was a huge step up in last two matches and were starting to look like an International fielding side," Hesson added.
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First Published:
July 25, 2025, 17:45 IST
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