Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has recalled star batter Babar Azam to the T20I squad for the upcoming home assignments, marking his return to the shortest format after over ten months. Babar, currently part of the ongoing Test series against South Africa, last featured in a T20I in December 2024 and missed the Asia Cup 2025, where Pakistan lost to India in the final.
The 29-year-old was previously dropped from T20Is due to concerns over his lower strike rates in the format. With his inclusion, the PCB aims to strengthen their batting line-up for the three-match T20I series against South Africa later this month, followed by a T20I tri-series featuring Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe next month.
Changes in Pakistan’s T20I and ODI Squads
Several players have been dropped or recalled for the upcoming series. Mohammad Rizwan will miss the T20Is but has been called up to the ODI squad, while Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Haris are not part of the T20I setup. Meanwhile, Naseem Shah, Abdul Samad, and Usman Khan have returned to the 15-member T20I squad led by Salman Ali Agha.
Speaking about Babar Azam’s return, a PCB official said,
“𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻20𝑰𝒔. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔.”
In the ongoing Test series, Babar top-scored with 50 off 87 balls in Pakistan’s second innings, his first fifty in seven innings, helping the team set South Africa a target of 68 to level the series.
Pakistan’s T20I squad for South Africa and tri-series:
Salman Agha (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan’s ODI squad for the South Africa series:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
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