Despite being left out of Pakistan’s upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh, star batter Babar Azam is far from done in the shortest format—at least according to interim white-ball captain Salman Ali Agha.
Speaking ahead of the three-match series in Dhaka, Agha made it clear that Babar, along with senior campaigners Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi, still figures heavily in the PCB’s roadmap for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.
“These players are very much part of our 25-player T20I pool,” Agha told reporters. “The idea is to give opportunities to other guys right now and build our bench strength—but that doesn’t mean the seniors are out of the picture.”
The exclusion of Babar, Rizwan, and Shaheen from the Bangladesh series had sparked speculation about a shift in Pakistan’s T20 direction, especially after a disappointing 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. However, Agha’s remarks offered a strategic explanation rather than a harsh verdict.
“They bring balance and maturity. You need that in high-pressure games,” he added, noting that the current focus is to test emerging talent while ensuring experienced players stay ready for the big stage.
Pakistan will play Bangladesh on July 20, 22, and 24, with all matches taking place in Dhaka. The team will then travel to the USA to face the West Indies in a bilateral series in early August—part of an effort to broaden exposure on different pitches and against varied opposition.
Meanwhile, veteran all-rounder Imad Wasim also weighed in recently, calling on Babar and Rizwan to “reflect and reinvent” their T20 approach, but affirmed their value if they adapt to modern demands. “They can win you games—no doubt about it,” he said in an interview earlier this week.
The takeaway? The senior trio might be on a break—but their chapter in Pakistan’s T20 story is far from closed. The selectors appear to be reshuffling, not rewriting, the script.
