ISLAMABAD: After a disappointing T20 World Cup, Pakistan have dropped seasoned batter Babar Azam and allrounder Saim Ayub for next week’s ODI series in Bangladesh.
The 15-member squad has six uncapped players, including opening batter Sahibzada Farhan, who topped the batting charts at the T20 World Cup with 383 runs. However, Farhan hasn’t played a 50-over game at domestic level since October 2024.
The selectors also dropped allrounders Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan, but surprisingly kept T20 captain Salman Ali Agha in the ODI squad after he scored only 60 runs at the T20 World Cup.
Abdul Samad, renowned for his aggressive batting in T20s, is one of the other uncapped players along with Shamyl Hussain, a 21-year-old opening batter, and Maaz Sadaqat. Ghazi Ghori is the backup wicketkeeper-batter as Pakistan recalled former ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan for the tour.
Mohammad Wasim and Haris Rauf are the two fast bowlers alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi, who will continue to lead the ODI team. Legspinner Abrar Ahmed will be frontline spinner with left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram the other option.
The three-match series will be played from March 11-15 with Dhaka hosting all the games.
___
Squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shamyl Hussain.