Why Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan Are Dropped from Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025 Squad

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken a bold step by leaving out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the Asia Cup 2025 squad.

For the first time in years, Pakistan will play a major tournament without the two senior batters who have been central to their T20 setup.

The selectors made their stance clear: Pakistan want to move away from a conservative batting approach in T20 cricket.

Both Babar and Rizwan have often been criticised for slow scoring rates at the top of the order.

Since 2022, Rizwan has managed a strike rate of 122.26 in T20Is, while Babar sits at 127.34.

In contrast, youngsters like Saim Ayub strike at nearly 138, showing the aggressive intent the board now prefers.

Former captain Mohammad Hafeez explained why this decision was coming.

“Calling them key players would be wrong and unfair. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are not Pakistan cricket’s key players at the moment. Key players are those who win matches for Pakistan,” Hafeez said on a Pakistan-based YouTube channel.

Hafeez added that the real match-winners in the last year have been names like Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub, and Hasan Nawaz, all of whom made it to the squad.

“Why aren’t we talking about them? They are the ones currently winning matches for Pakistan,” he said.

The selection also raised questions about the bowling unit. While Shaheen Shah Afridi kept his place, Naseem Shah was left out.

Hafeez had earlier pointed out that both pacers needed to show more commitment and consistency to deliver match-winning spells.

Naseem’s absence, however, is believed to be due to injury management as well as a dip in form.