Major shake-up in Pakistan squad: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi dropped for Bangladesh T20Is; Salman Agha to lead

On Wednesday, Pakistan announced a revamped squad for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh, notably excluding star players Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan. This marks a significant shift as former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson takes the helm for the first time, following his recent appointment to replace Aaqib Javed. Salman Ali Agha has been named captain as the team sets its sights on the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for next year in India and Sri Lanka.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi participated in Pakistan's last T20 series in New Zealand in March. However, both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been omitted for the second consecutive series, following criticism regarding their slow scoring rates. 

"The squad has been selected based on players' performances in the ongoing Pakistan Super League, which concludes on May 25," the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement.

Shaheen has been on fire for the Lahore Qalandars, taking 12 wickets in just 10 PSL matches, all while maintaining an economy rate of 8.20.

Meanwhile, Opener Sahibzada Farhan is making a comeback after leading the PSL batting charts with an impressive 394 runs. Plus, batsmen Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman are back in action after recovering from injuries that kept them out of the New Zealand tour. And let’s not forget fast bowler Hasan Ali, who is returning after being sidelined with multiple injuries since May of last year.

The PCB has announced that the match schedule for the series will be released soon. This schedule was delayed by 10 days due to the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict, but all three matches are set to take place in Lahore.

Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub

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