Pakistan have announced squads for three of their upcoming series and Babar Azam has returned to the T20I set up for the first time in 2025. He last played for Pakistan in the format in December last year and has been on the sidelines since then.
Babar Azam and Naseem Shah have been recalled to Pakistan’s T20I squad for the upcoming home series against South Africa. This is Pakistan’s first series since losing to India thrice in the Asia Cup, including in the final, and Salman Ali Agha has managed to retain his place as captain not only for the South Africa series but also for the tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Coming back to Babar, he last played for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game in December 2024, also against South Africa in Centurion. He and Mohammad Rizwan were dropped from the T20I squad after that as the PCB had then stated that the superstar duo was rested. However, they never returned to the team until the Asia Cup where Pakistan’s batting struggled a lot, losing three times to India in the space of 15 days.
As for Naseem, he last featured for Pakistan in T20Is in November 2024 on the Australia tour and his recall alongside Babar raises the possibility of them being included in the upcoming T20 World Cup squad as well. Notably, Haris Rauf and Fakhar Zaman have not been picked in the T20I squad and are only part of the reserves.
Pakistan’s T20I squad for South Africa series and tri-series: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq
Shaheen Afridi set to lead Pakistan for first time in ODIs
Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi was named Pakistan’s ODI captain recently and his first assignment is against South Africa. The three-match series will be played from November 4 to 8, with all matches scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi. Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf and wicketkeeper-batter Haseebullah have returned to the setup in the 50-over format. For the unversed, Pakistan lost to the West Indies in their previous ODI series under Mohammad Rizwan’s captaincy.
Pakistan’s ODI squad for South Africa series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha.
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