Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan both missed out as Pakistan announced their 17-member squad for Asia Cup 2025. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squad for both the tri-series featuring Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the Asia Cup. Salman Ali Agha will be leading the team with Mohammad haris picked as the wicket-keeper. Star pacer Shaheen Afridi made the cut along with Fakhar Zaman but there was no place for the experienced duo of Babar and Rizwan.
The other prominent players to feature in the Pakistan squad were Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, and Faheem Ashraf. Younger stars like Saim Ayub and Hasan Nawaz also made the cut.
The Asia Cup 2025 will be held in UAE from September 9 to September 28. Pakistan were placed in Group A along with India, UAE and Oman. They will be play their first game against Oman on September 12 before facing India on September 14 and UAE on September 17.
Pakistan did not have a good outing at Asia Cup 2023. The tournament, which was played in ODI format, saw Pakistan losing two out of their three Super 4 games as they failed to reach the final.
Back in 2022, Pakistan finished runners-up after losing to Sri Lanka in the final.
Pakistan will also get ready for Asia Cup with a T20I tri-series against Afghanistan and UAE.
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2025: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufyan Moqim.