The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) surprised many when it introduced its 17-member squad for the upcoming UAE tri-sequence and Asia Cup 2025 with out star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Amid the hypothesis, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has clarified that the choice was purely the work of selectors.“First of all, I don’t have even 1% role in putting players into the team or taking them out,” Naqvi instructed reporters on Saturday. “We have a selection committee and then an advisory body, they all sit together. The process goes through a lot — discussions that last 8–10 hours, sometimes for 2–3 days. Definitely, if a team is being selected, it’s in good hands, all professionals are there. I’ve only told them one thing — whatever decision they take, it should be on merit, and I will support that.”
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The Asia Cup squad sees a better emphasis on energy-hitters, with Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman anticipated to shoulder the highest-order accountability. Neither Babar nor Rizwan has featured in a T20 worldwide since December 2024.Naqvi underlined the lengthy-time period imaginative and prescient, including, “With whatever lot was available, I polished it and carried it forward. Now our effort is to bring in as many new players as possible so that there is more competition in cricket and the best of the best can come forward.” Head coach Mike Hesson, in the meantime, elaborated on the decision, saying Babar had been requested to enhance “in some areas” together with his strike fee and play towards spin. “At the moment, the players that we have, (they) have performed exceptionally well,” Hesson had mentioned. “But certainly a player like Babar has an opportunity to play in the BBL and start to show that he’s improving in those areas in T20s. He’s too good a player for us not to consider.”Salman Ali Agha will captain Pakistan within the tri-sequence and Asia Cup, with senior names like Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali joined by promising kids Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Haris.Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufyan Moqim.