The Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2025 represents a bold departure from traditional selections, with the tournament starting from September 9. Salman Ali Agha will continue to lead the Pakistan cricket team in this upcoming tournament, but what has caught everyone’s attention is the shocking omission of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan who could not find a place in the squad.

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2025

The announced lineup includes Salman Ali (C), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Muhammad Haris (WK), Muhammad Nawaz, Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, and Sufyan Moqim. Having followed Pakistan cricket for years, this selection screams of desperation after the team’s recent struggles, particularly the ODI defeat against West Indies where the batting completely collapsed under pressure and the team was all out at mere 92 runs in just 29.2 overs.

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The PCB has focused more on including youngsters, a decision that comes after top batters failing to perform consistently. Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah are the only senior players who have earned the spot, while the NO BABAR & RIZWAN IN PAKISTAN SQUAD FOR ASIA CUP headline reflects the selectors’ frustration with established stars. The West Indies delivered a dominating performance in the third and final ODI against Pakistan in Trinidad as they sealed a 202-run victory and clinched the series by 2-1, which marks their first series win at home against Pakistan in 36 years. Chasing a target of 295, Pakistan’s batting lineup saw five Pakistani players – Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan and Abrar Ahmed – all out without even scoring, while None of the batters could establish a partnership and stablise the run-chase as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. What turned out to be most disappointing was that Babar Azam once again failed to deliver as he scored only 9 runs before getting dismissed, and the only silver lining was Salman Ali Agha who showed a little grit to score 30 runs but could not find any solid support from the other end. Pakistan’s star batter has now another unwanted record under he belt as he has gone 72 international innings without scoring a century, which has raised a serious concern about his poor form across all the formats.