No one anticipated the Pakistan Cricket Board to take a bold step of dropping their former captain of the shortest format, Babar Azam, from their 17-member squad of the upcoming tri-series in Sharjah against the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan, and later in the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

This is a dramatic shift in the T20I plans for Pakistan ahead of the Asia Cup 2025. Babar has overall smashed 4223 runs in 121 innings at an average of nearly 40 and a strike rate of 130, including three centuries and 36 half-centuries, with his best score 122 runs. Overall, he has incredible experience of over 11000 runs in 309 T20 innings at a strike rate of 129.33.

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It's a sign that the selectors of the Green Brigade are leading towards the impact-driven players, who have been delivering consistent performances in recent months. Babar tends to start slow in the powerplay, and once he gets out, the entire pressure boils down on the middle order to make an extraordinary impact in the clash.

Explained why Babar Azam was not selected in Pakistan's Asia Cup 2025 squad

The last T20I clash for Babar came in December 2024 against South Africa. He endured tough runs with the bat, managing a duck in one affair and another 31-run knock during the second affair. Since the trip to the Rainbow Nation, the Pakistan side has played 14 T20Is, with all the games taking place in the absence of Rizwan and Babar.

In the previous season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the right-handed batter smashed 288 runs in 10 innings at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 128.57, with the help of three half-centuries at the best score of 94 runs for Peshawar Zalmi.

“The BBL could be the perfect stage for Babar Azam to show how much he has sharpened his T20 game. A player of his class is simply too big to be left out of consideration.” Pakistan’s head coach, Mike Hesson, expressed the thought process of taking the big calls on dropping Babar for the Asia Cup. However, there is speculation of whether the national side has seen the last of the batter in T20Is.